


The View from the Other Side

by jypzrose



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Adult Situations, Character Death, Child Abuse, Comfort Sex, F/M, Language, Sexual Situations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 05:28:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1539389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jypzrose/pseuds/jypzrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Katniss’ mother dies, she and Prim are sent to town to live with their only surviving relative, their Aunt Juniper.  The move is difficult for Katniss, but she tries to put on a brave face for Prim.  The only good thing she sees is that the apothecary is next door to the bakery where Peeta Mellark works.  When they were 11, he saved her family and she’s harbored a crush on him ever since.  Now, the more she gets to know him, the more she realizes that she might be able to save him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

# Prologue

 

##  _Six months before the start of our story…_

 

 

“Mrs. Everdeen,” The doctor sighed heavily as he held up the x-ray. Ginger Everdeen tried not to think how much money that x-ray had cost or where she had gotten the money to pay for it. She knew what the doctor was going to say. She’d seen it enough in her years as a healer, she knew the symptoms, and she’d treated them. But, she’d needed the confirmation for herself, so she could plan. For her girls.

 

Ginger had failed them once, after her husband-their father-had been killed in a mining accident. She wouldn’t fail them again. So, she listened as he talked, confirming her diagnosis and talking about options and treatments. All of which were impossible. There was no medicine in District Twelve that could cure her. She wasn’t even sure there was any in the Capital of Panem. So, there were no options for her.

 

“How long?” She gasped, her voice thick with her inner turmoil.

 

The doctor sighed again and leveled his dark eyes to her blue ones.

 

“No longer than six months, I’d say. Without treatment your quality of life will deteriorate much quicker than that.”

 

“I live in the Seam. I don’t have high expectation for my quality of life.” Ginger told him dryly. He sighed yet again at that, folding his hands in front of him.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said and she didn’t doubt he was. But his sympathy wouldn’t help her now. She needed to go.

 

“Thank you.” She said, standing to leave. She was already going over what she needed to do. She could take care of her own pain and nausea. She would have Katniss harvest the herbs she needed and Prim could help her preserve them.

 

She left the doctors without another word and walked from his office to the town square. She passed the Justice building, where the long forgotten whipping post still sat. It hadn’t been used in years. Not since before the rebellion that had freed Panem from tyranny. Unfortunately, rebuilding a government took time and while the people of District twelve were free and had no fear, they still weren’t much better off than they had been.

 

She stayed lost in thought until she came to the apothecary, which was not far from the bakery. Ginger stood outside the building, her heart pounding in her chest. Memories assault her, some good, most not. This was the place she grew up, where she had learned her livelihood and met the man that would become her husband. The place where her old life had ended.

 

Now this was the place that would be her daughters’ future.

 

She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, her arms wrapped around her thin frame, her mind wandering. She was jolted back to reality when the door swung open.

 

“Ginger?” The woman standing in front of her, wearing pants and a soft cotton shirt, looked at her with clear green eyes.

 

“Hello, Juni.” Ginger offered her sister after a tremulous smile.

 

“Wh…what…” she was obviously struggling with her words, her light brown brows pulled together in confusion. Juniper Johnson shook her dirty blond head and straightened her shoulders. She pushed the shock away and leveled her gaze at the younger woman. “What are you doing here?”

 

There was no malice in the question, just genuine curiosity. They had only spoken a handful of times since Ginger had run away with the miner, the last time being at their fathers funeral the year before. Juniper had been shocked at how fragile her sister had seemed then. But, as her pale green eyes took in the thin frame wrapped in a threadbare blue sweater and a faded blue dress, that was nothing compared to now.

 

“I need…” Ginger paused and collected a shaky breath. “I need your help.”

 

Juniper stared at her a long moment, dread seizing her heart the longer she looked. Ginger merely waited; her own cloudy blue eyes never wavered.

 

“All right then.” Juniper said with a sharp nod. “Come in. I’ll make us some tea.” Juniper reached out an arm and ushered her sister into the apothecary shop, flipping the closed sign as it shut. “Go on up. You know the way.”

 

Ginger walked through the shop, breathing in the scent of medicine and herbs, the smells of home. She hadn’t allowed herself to miss it, to miss this. She’d made her choice and had never regretted it. Even after Samuel died she would never have changed loving him.

 

Ginger walked to the staircase that was nearly hidden behind a partition to the left of the service counter. She took the fourteen steps up, avoiding the creaky one out of ingrained habit to the door at the top. She opened it then crossed the threshold to her past.

 

She paused just inside; taking in just how little had changed in her time away. That felt odd to Ginger. Shouldn’t it have changed? She surely had in the twenty years she’d been gone.

 

“Go on and sit at the table. I’ll start the tea.” Juniper moved around her, the tail of her braid swinging across her back.

 

Ginger almost smiled. Juniper reminded her so much of her Katniss then. The braid, the pants she wore, the simple pullover shirt that hinted at the figure underneath. Juniper had never been one for frilly things, or _nonsense_ as she called it. Katniss looked so much like her father, but her disposition was much like Juniper’s.

 

Ginger didn’t move to the table right. Instead, she walked to the fireplace, her fingers trailing lovingly over her mama’s music box that still sat on the mantle. It was a simple wood box that once wound, played a tinny waltz. Ginger remembered begging her mama to play it when she was little. How she’d laugh when her dad would let her stand on his feet and would twirl her around the room to the music.

 

Juniper would sit next to their mother on the couch, their family herb book on her lap, smiling at their antics. Their little brother Sage would be playing nearby on the floor. There had been such happiness in this house, in their lives.

 

Until Sage caught pneumonia and died. Their mother had withdrawn, not like Ginger had, but she didn’t smile easily after that. And her father had changed as well. He became cold and distant. A shell of the man he used to be.

 

It was that man that had forbade Ginger from marrying Samuel, the miner that had brought joy back to her life. It was that man that disowned her when she’d married him.

 

Now he and mama were both gone and Ginger could finally come home.

 

“So, Ginger. What do you need to talk to me about?” Juniper carried the same china tea set of their grandmother’s that they always used. It was white with delicate yellow daisies. She set the tray on the table and then poured the rich brew into the cups. Ginger smelled lemon and mint and she smiled. It was her favorite. There were tea cookies as well. No doubt bought from Mellark’s bakery.

 

Ginger closed her eyes at the thought of the bakery. She knew of Katniss’ fascination with the youngest Mellark boy. Maybe that would make what she was about to do easier on her oldest daughter. And if Katniss was all right with it, Prim would follow suit.

 

“Ginger?” Juniper narrowed her eyes, concern evident on her face.

 

“I’m dying.” Ginger blurted out, the reality crashing down on her as she heard herself say the words. The stricken look on Juniper’s face is what broke her. She felt herself falling, tears clogging her nose and blurring her vision. She kept waiting to hit the floor, but the hard landing never came.

 

Ginger didn’t realize until she felt her head pressed against a soft shoulder and the couch under her that Juniper had caught her. She didn’t know how long she cried. By the time she was done, she felt hollow and more tired than she could ever remember being.

 

“I’m sorry, Ginger.” Juniper broke the silence that had fallen between them as Ginger calmed. She pulled back and helped her sister wipe her face, gently tucking a stray blond hair behind her ear. “This family has had more than its share of heartache.”

 

They’d lost their brother, their parents and now that it had seemed that Juniper was finally going to get her sister back, she was going to lose her too.

 

“What do you need? Medicine? Money?”

 

“No. I’ll manage. What I need,” Ginger sniffed and brought her watery gaze to the sturdier one of her sister. “I need you to take in my girls.”


	2. Chapter One

## Chapter One

 

 

#  _The Beginning of our Story…_

It was pouring the day Ginger Everdeen was laid to rest. A small group of people stood under leaky umbrellas as sheets of late summer rain beat into them. The cemetery sat between the edge of the Seam and the meadow, the small headstones jutting out of the ground in an uneven pattern. No one in District 12 could afford an elaborate headstone; so many went unmarked, while others had a large rock with the dates of birth and death carved into them.

 

The only graves in the cemetery that had anything bigger were the graves of those that had participated in the Hunger Games. Twenty four children ranging from twelve to eighteen were chosen in a reaping and sent to fight to their deaths in an arena that seemed to be just as determined to kill them as their peers. All for the entertainment of the Capital. Every twenty-five years special rules applied. Those were called Quarter Quells. For the first, the districts had to vote for their tributes. The second, twice the tributes were sent. That was the year District 12 won.

 

Haymitch Abernathy had lived in a drunken stupor for 25 years, until the third Quarter Quell, when the Capital reaped the tributes from existing victors, and then destroyed the arena, killing them all.

 

The Capital had wanted to squelch the rebellion that had been slowly building with each child that was sent home in a box. However, killing all the beloved victors, most of which were in the resistance, had the exact opposite affect. The war that ended the Capitals tyrannical reign over the districts was blissfully quick. President Snow had been killed and a new President voted in his place quickly after. Life was better in Panem, but still not perfect. But no one had to worry about their children being reaped anymore.

 

Katniss Everdeen had survived one reaping before the fall of the Capital. That same year she had lost her father and her innocence. Now, she stood next to the grave of her mother, in the shadow of all those children that had been sacrificed as the rain wept for all of them.

 

She watched the box as it was lowered into the ground by her best friend Gale Hawthorne, his younger brother Rory, their friend Thom, the grave digger and Mr. Mellark, the baker. She could feel her sister Primrose’s hand gripping hers tightly and could hear the 14-year-old girl’s soft snuffles as she cried. Katniss knew that her Aunt Juniper was behind her, holding the umbrella over their heads.

 

She knew all of this was happening around her, but she felt far removed from it, like it was happening to someone else. Or as if that big whole in the ground was what was left of her heart.

 

Things had changed so much since that day Ginger had come home and told the two of them about her illness. Prim had cried at first, her thin body pressed against their mother’s as the news froze Katniss to her chair. Then, the young Everdeen girl had pulled herself together and threw herself into healer mode, questioning her mother at length about what they would need for her. Ginger had answered her blue eyes never leaving her other, stricken daughter. Katniss had just sat, her mind struggling to accept what was being said.

 

But all she could think was that her mother was leaving them _again._ This time there was no hope of her coming back to them.

 

As Prim fussed about herbs and what not, Katniss worried about what they would do if Ginger passed before Katniss’ eighteenth birthday. And since she’d just turned seventeen that was a good possibility.

 

They couldn’t go to the group home. Those kids were even more malnourished and uncared for as even the poorest family in the Seam. And once Katniss came of age, there was no guarantee that she’d be able to take Prim with her.

 

Just as panic was starting to set in, Ginger dropped her second bombshell. Their Aunt Juniper would be taking them in.

 

“Like hell!” Katniss had spat. Ginger’s merchant family had disowned her once she’d married Katniss’ father. They hadn’t raised a finger after he died to help them, not even when they were starving. Of course, she didn’t even think they knew that had happened. But why would she and Prim want to go live with the Merchant’s that had spurned their mother?

 

“Katniss,” Ginger had started, her faded blue eyes pleading with her daughter.

 

“I can take care of us. I’ve been doing it this long. Or we can stay with the Hawthorne’s.” Katniss had insisted. Gale was two years older than her. On his eighteenth birthday, he’d gone to work in the mines to supplement his mother’s income and help support his younger siblings. His father had died in the same mine cave in as her father. And that was precisely Ginger’s argument as to why they _couldn’t_ go live with the Hawthorne’s’.

 

“We can’t ask them to take in two more mouths to feed. They aren’t kin.”

 

“More than this Aunt you’re trying to force us onto.” She’d shot back. Her eyes burned the longer she looked at the frail woman in front of her. Prim had stared back and forth between them, her face sadness and grief pinching her young face. That’s when Ginger pulled out the card that Katniss could never trump.

 

“It would be a good opportunity for Prim. Your aunt has no children and when she passes, the apothecary will go to you girls.” Ginger held Katniss’ gaze as she let that sink in. Katniss glanced at Prim to see hope warring with her grief.

 

Defeated, Katniss merely nodded. Then, unable to deal with all she’d learned, Katniss had escaped the house. She’d spent the night out in her beloved woods, crying.

 

“Katniss,” Aunt Juniper’s voice penetrated her thoughts and she looked up. Her aunt’s face was wet with tears but her gaze was steady. Katniss was still leery of her, but she’d come to appreciate the older woman’s strength. “They’re ready.”

 

Juniper nodded towards the grave where the men were waiting. She met Gale’s grief clouded grey eyes. He gave her a sad smile and held out his shovel to her. Katniss looked at Prim, who was staring back with wet blue eyes. Prim gave her a smile as well and let go of her hand.

 

Stepping over to Gale, she took the shovel from him, not caring about the rain beating down on her head. The clothes she was wearing, for the first time in her life, were new and fit well. The sweater and dress were quickly soaked through without the protection of the umbrella. The mayor started to say the final words of the service, his daughter and Katniss’ only other friend Madge standing next to him.

 

Katniss shoved the shovel into the muddy dirt and dropped it on the simple box that held her mother’s body. It landed with a heavy wet _thunk_ that made her stomach twist.

 

Prim stepped beside her, her blond head covered by the umbrella Aunt Juniper held. She took the shovel and repeated Katniss’ action. Then, she took the umbrella from Juniper so her aunt could do the same. Juniper then handed the shovel back to Gale and they all returned their attention to the mayor.

 

“May you rest in peace.” Katniss took a deep breath and blinked against the burning in her eyes. She felt a hand reach for hers and give a squeeze. The familiar feel of the calloused fingers had her holding on tight for a brief moment. Then, she let Gale’s hand go so they could start to fill in the grave.

 

“Thank you, Mayor Undersee. You’re welcome to come back to the house.” Katniss heard Juniper saying. Katniss half listened as Hazelle, Gale’s mother, wrapped her in her sturdy arms.

 

“We’ll see you at home.” Hazelle said, resting a palm against Katniss’ cheek.

 

“Okay.”   Hazelle moved away to hug Prim and exchange a word or two with Juniper. Than she herded her two youngest children with her to walk back to the Seam.

 

Home. For one more night, the house she grew up in would be home. Tomorrow, they’d move to town. Katniss still wasn’t sure what to think about it. They turned and watched silently as the med started to fill in the hole, each shovel full of dirt sealing hers and Prim’s fate.

 

“Come on, girls. We need to get some tea started to warm these men up when their done.” Juni ushered the girls away from the grave. Madge reached out and gripped Katniss’ hand before falling into step beside them. The walk took longer than usual, as none of them were eager to get back to the place their mother had died. So, Katniss wasn’t surprised when they stepped inside the tiny Seam house to see Hazelle already there.

 

She’d brought over a pot of stew that morning and was heating it on the stove. There was bread from the baker, fresh strawberries from Gale, a salad of fresh greens and cheese that Prim had made from her goat’s milk. Someone had made lemonade and she could see the kettle on the stove for tea. She saw a plain white box set on the table next to the other food. Curious, Katniss walked over to it and opened.

 

Cookies. Katniss took one out and traces the delicate flower that it was decorated with. A Katniss flower.

 

“I ordered those for today. Picked them up this morning and this is what Peeta gave me.”

 

Peeta. How was it, even today, hearing his name made her heart beat faster? She ignored the knowing smirk she was getting from Madge and took a bite of the cookie. It was sweet and buttery, but only tasted like dust to Katniss. She forced herself to finish it anyway.

 

“I was surprised to see his father here.” Madge said pulling Katniss with her to the room she had shared with her mother and Prim. Prim was curled up on their old couch, clutching her ugly cat like a lifeline.

 

When they got in the room, Madge grabbed a towel from the dresser and handed it to Katniss to dry off. Then she went in search of dry clothes for her friend.

 

“Aunt Juni said mom and Mr. Mellark were friends when they were kids.” Katniss sat on her mother’s bed and half-heartedly rubbed her hair with the towel. Madge put the pants and t-shirt she’d found down and took the towel back from Katniss. She set to drying the heavy, dark tresses herself.

 

In the time after her mother’s illness was revealed, Madge had become indispensable to Katniss. She hadn’t wanted to tell anyone, but the blond girl she shared lunch with managed to ferret it out of her. After that, whatever the Everdeen women needed, Madge would help in her quiet way. And while Katniss hated owning anyone or asking for help, Madge had put her in her place in that simple, unassuming way she had.

 

“We’re friends. This is what friends do. Get over it.”

 

And really, she wouldn’t have questioned Gale or turned him down if he offered. So she let Madge in. It had been one of the best decision Katniss had ever made.

 

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Madge asked quietly.

 

“No.” Katniss answered without hesitation. She could hear the movements of the other women in the living room and dreaded going back out there. People would start to come soon. Friends, patients of her mother’s, maybe some of Prim’s friends. Everyone that wanted to give condolences, the ones that could would bring food, others just kind words. Katniss wanted none of it. She knew it would probably comfort Prim, though.

 

“It won’t be that bad.” Madge said, putting the towel aside and finger combing Katniss’ hair. Her nimble fingers then began to swiftly braid it as she talked. “You’ll be right next to the bakery.”

 

“Madge,” Katniss nearly laughed at her friend’s persistence. She knew Madge was trying to cheer her up, even just a little and Katniss appreciated it. She just didn’t think anything could manage that today. “He hasn’t noticed me by now, I doubt he will just because I live next door. I trade with his father every week.”

 

Nearly seven years before, Peeta Mellark had saved her and her family’s life. Her father had just died and her mother had fallen into a depression so deep, she couldn’t take care of herself much less her daughters. In desperation, Katniss took to digging in the trash bins behind the bakery looking for anything edible. She was crushed to see they were empty. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mellark had seen her and chased her away.

 

She only got as far as the apple tree in the bakery’s back yard before despair had her sinking to the ground. It was raining that night as well. It had been much colder, though.

 

Katniss had thought she might just lie there and die. She’d pretty much given up when she heard the witch screaming again. She thought that the baker’s wife was coming out to finish her off and so she tensed. Instead, she saw the young boy in her class, Peeta. He had two burnt loaves of bread clutched in his hands. The witch shrieked something else, causing him to turn back for an instant. When he looked back at her, his expression was so dark that chilled her more than the rain. Then, he seemed to shake it off and concern replaced it. He darted off the porch and stopped in front of her.

 

“Here,” he said, thrusting the bread at her. She stared at the loaves in disbelief. “Take them, hurry. Before she comes back.”

 

That was all she needed. She snatched the bread, shoved them in her jacket and took off. The next day, she’d seen him across the courtyard at school. She saw the bruise blooming against his cheek and it made her chest ache. His dark blue eyes rose to hers for a long moment. Finally, she gave him a slight nod. After a second of consideration, he returned it. Then, he looked away. Surprised at the hurt she felt, she dropped her grey eyes to the ground and saw a dandelion. Hope bloomed through her as she suddenly realized how she was going to feed her family.

 

That was the first and last interaction Katniss had ever had with Peeta Mellark, besides being in the same class their entire lives. But, his act of kindness on that cold, rainy night had given her back hope and she knew that she was a goner.

 

“All right. Change out of those wet clothes and lets get this day over with.” Madge patted Katniss’ shoulder and stood up. “I’ll go get you some tea. Come out when you’re ready.” Katniss nodded and watched as her friend started to leave.

 

“Madge?” She waited until Madge paused at the bedroom door.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Thanks, for everything.” Katniss told her with a wave of her hand.

 

“We’re friends.” Madge said once again. Then she smiled and left Katniss to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n- yes. I killed all the victors in the Quell. Including Haymitch. I’m sorry. Please don’t hate. But I truly believe that was Snow’s intention all along and that it was incredibly naïve that Peeta or Katniss thought either one would get out. Also, I didn’t want to have to deal with the hunger games, but I also wanted them recent enough so that they would have impacted Katniss’ life in some way. So, hope you enjoy this and please review, review, review. I’m almost done writing Promise to Keep, only two chaps or so left to write. So I decided to play with this one a little. Already started chapter 2. Lisa/Jypz.


	3. Chapter 2

# Chapter Two

“I don’t see why you have to go.”  Gale said.  Again.  He was leaning against the arm of the couch, arms across his chest and his Seam grey eyes narrowed in annoyance.

 

“Because of Prim.”  Katniss reminded him.  Again.  She was moving around the house, packing up their meager belongings while Prim readied Lady the goat and that damn cat of hers for the move.  “And I’m still under eighteen.”  She added.

 

“We could get married.”  Gale blurted out.  Katniss dropped the box she was holding with a thump and looked over at him with exasperated eyes.  She took in his tall form; his dark hair, grey eyes and olive skin, so much like hers.  The sharp planes of his face were set in a scowl that could rival her own and his full mouth was set in a harsh line.  She was so tired of having this conversation.  It was bad enough she and Prim were now orphans, but their entire lives were changing.  Gale wasn’t making it any easier.

 

“Really, Gale?”  She said in frustration.  “We’d kill each other.”  No, this wasn’t the first time he’d brought it up.  All it would take was a signature from Aunt Juni giving her permission.  But that wasn’t what she wanted, her unrequited feelings for Peeta Mellark aside.  Gale was her best friend.  That was all, no matter how much he apparently wanted more.

 

“You don’t know that.”  He sounded a lot like his little sister Posy, right after she was told no about something.  It made Katniss smile, despite her irritation.

 

“Yes, I do.  And so do you if you think about it.”  She picked the box up again and moved it to the couch.  Five boxes had packed up their life.  Katniss didn’t know if she should feel sad about that.  Aunt Juni had bought them both new clothes and shoes, though they still kept the ones they already had. And Katniss still had her hunting boots and her father’s jacket.  She could move straight to the Capital, she’d die before she gave those up.  But she could appreciate having clothes that didn’t need to be mended just one more time, that Prim didn’t need to put cardboard in her shoes to try to make them last until her toes were too cramped to move.   That there would never be that need again.

 

Too bad her mother had to die for that to happen.

 

Katniss drew in a deep breath and pushed away the tears that were threatening to fall.  She and Prim had spent their last night, huddled together in the bed they’d shared since Prim was a toddler.  She couldn’t imagine having her own room, even though that was exactly what would happen at their Aunt’s apartment.  She’d have privacy for the first time in her life that she didn’t have to go out into the woods for.  She wasn’t sure how either Everdeen girl was going to deal with it.

 

“Besides,” Katniss continued, pulling herself back to the conversation.  “I’m not ready for marriage.”  Back in the days before the rebellion, before she knew what the Hunger Games were and fear and starvation was an everyday thing, Katniss had wanted to get married.  When her father died, and her mother had retreated into herself leaving her daughters to fend for themselves, she’d thought that love was a weakness. 

 

Until Peeta threw her that bread and saved their lives.  Then her heart had given her no choice.  But she vowed to never be her mother.  She looked to Hazelle Hawthorne for the example of the way love should be.  Her husband had been killed in the same accident as Katniss’ father.  And instead of letting her grief cripple her, she lived, remembering her husband and honoring his memory by raising her children well, despite the poverty the Seam still felt, even after the war.

 

Ginger had gotten better, and become the mother they needed. But the damage had been done and Katniss was always hesitant to really trust her mother again.

 

Gale snorted at that and muttered something under his breath that Katniss was sure was unflattering, but she ignored him.  She moved the box she’d been packing with some jars of dried herbs and the rest of her mother’s medical supplies over by the door.  There were only a few more things to pack, one more box to close on the life she used to live. 

 

The furniture was being left to the young couple that had bought the house.  They could keep it, throw it out, use it for kindling.  Ginger had wanted to stay in the Seam house as long as possible.  If they settled before she got to bad, they would move to town sooner.  But, once she signed the papers finalizing the sale, Ginger just seemed to fade away.  Like the last thing she’d had to handle was done and now she could let go.  It wasn’t a week after that when she died quietly in her sleep.

 

So Gale’s insistence on bringing up this marriage nonsense was annoying the hell out of her.  He knew the emotional topsy-turvy she was going through and his constant harping wasn’t helping. 

 

“We’ll still see each other on Sundays.  I mean, after you go hunting.”  She felt a flash of pain in her chest at that.  Of course she wouldn’t be able to go hunting anymore.  She was a merchant now.  Merchants didn’t hunt.  Not that Juni had told her as such, but it wasn’t like she or Gale ran into any Town people out in the woods when they were out.  “Aunt Juni never said I couldn’t see you anymore.”

 

“How nice of her.  She ignores you your whole life and now that she has custody of you she won’t tell you what to do?  Generous.”  He had nearly broken the bow in two when Katniss had given it to him to give to his little brother Rory.  They were going to need it now that she wouldn’t be hunting with Gale anymore.

 

“Gale!”  Katniss voice held a hint of warning.  He was driving her crazy.  She wished he’d gone to work instead of volunteering to ‘help’ them move.  She didn’t know the full extent of what happened with her mother’s family, but she wasn’t dwelling on it right now.  As long as Prim was taken care of, she didn’t need to know.

 

Gale opened his mouth to say something but Katniss was saved by the three sharp knocks on the door.  Katniss, who wasn’t known for being social, was never so glad to have a visitor.  She quickly opened the door and greeted her Aunt Juniper.

 

“You ready?”  Juni walked in, her dark blond braid swinging.

 

“Yeah.  Prim’s rounding up the animals.” 

 

Juni nodded, then turned to the brooding Gale.

 

“Hello, Gale.  Good thing you’re around.  You can push the cart to town.” 

 

Katniss nearly choked on the unexpected laugh she tried to swallow at the look on Gale’s face.  Juni was…something, Katniss discovered over the last few months.  She didn’t suffer fools and she didn’t harbor any prejudice towards those in the Seam.  Which made the rift in their family even stranger to the young woman.

 

Gale stared at her for a long moment, hostility written all over his tall frame.  Juniper met his gaze unflinching until he scowled and muttered something under his breath that sounded like “damn townies,” to Katniss.  Her hope that Aunt Juni hadn’t heard it was shattered seconds later.

 

“Gale Hawthorne, I understand your dislike for merchants.  However, unless you want me to go speak with your mother about the disservice your doing _her_ good name with your atrocious manners, I’d suggest you do the _gentlemanly_ thing and help your friend on what I’m sure is a very stressful day for her.  Try to make it easier for her.  Not harder.”

 

Katniss’ eyes widened at her Aunts words and she nearly laughed at the shocked look on Gale’s face.  It wasn’t often anyone other than Katniss or his mother called him on his bullshit. 

 

“Yes, ma’am.”  He said, holding Juniper’s gaze.  Nobody missed the sarcasm, but Gale moved to pick up the first box.

 

Juni arched a brow at him as he moved out of the house.  Then, she moved over to Katniss and inspected the small pile of their belongings.

 

“Where’s your father’s bow?”  She asked, giving Katniss a puzzled look. 

 

“I told Gale to give it to his brother Rory.”  Her voice was thick with emotion as she talked.

 

“Why did you do that?”

 

“What?” The word came out harsh and she jerked her grey eyes to the woman next to her.

 

Juni gave a slight shake of her head then pinned Gale with her unwavering gaze when he reentered the Seam house. 

 

“Gale, please go get Katniss’ bow and extend her apologies to your brother.  She won’t be giving it to him after all.”

 

Katniss was stunned, but Gale actually gave Juni a grin.  She could see a shift in the way he looked at her Aunt as he nodded.

 

“No apologies needed.  I haven’t given it to him yet.”  He was holding on to it, she realized, sure she would hunt again.

 

“Well then,” Juniper waved him off and picked up a box herself.  “Why should I pay Rooba’s prices for fresh meat when I have a hunter in the house.”  She asked, her smirk rivaling Gale’s.  Katniss felt something in her chest loosen and it was all she could do not to break down.  She could keep her bow.  _She could hunt._   She hadn’t lost her freedom after all.

 

She managed to smile at her Aunt and blinked to hold back the emotion that was threatening to overwhelm her.  It was all too much.

 

“Come on, child.  We want to get going before it gets dark.”  Juni said gently, her smirk softening to a smile.  “Oh, hello Madge.”  Madge stepped in as Juni moved to step out.

 

“Hey,” Madge said.  Katniss didn’t answer right away.  She still felt precariously close to a melt down and she didn’t think she’d ever stop crying if she started now.  “Katniss?”  Madge stepped closer and took the other girls arm.  The touch seemed to jar Katniss back.

 

“I get to keep my bow.”  Her eyes were still shining and her voice held a sense of wonderment like she’d been just handed her best dream.  Madge smiled and squeezed Katniss’ arm.  Gale walked back in a little out of breath holding her fathers bow.  He must have sprinted the distance between their houses.

 

“Hi, Gale.”  Madge said, cheerfully.  She was happy for her friend and it showed in the smile she offered him.  Gale’s grey eyes met hers then quickly shifted away.  Madge ignored the pang of hurt she felt at the dismissal.

 

“Here you go, Catnip.”  It was a testament of how overwhelmed Katniss was that she didn’t snap at Gale for being rude.  Again.  She reached out and took the bow, smiling as she ran her hands over it.  She’d given it Gale right before her mother died, thinking she wouldn’t need it anymore.  She remembered the way she’d felt as she’d handed it over.  Like a piece of her heart had been ripped out. 

 

Now, her Aunt had handed it back.  She could barely understand what she was feeling.

 

“Katniss, honey.  You ok?”  Madge called softly.  Katniss smiled and nodded. 

 

“Yeah.  I’m ok.”  She nodded and sniffed, gathering her emotions back up to sort through later.  “I’m going to go get Prim.  Can you finish taking these boxes outside?  I’ll be right back.”  Katniss slid the blow on her shoulder and walked towards the back of the house to call Prim.

 

“I know what you’re doing.”

 

Madge, who had moved to grab the quiver of arrows from where Gale had placed them on the couch looked over at Gale.  His tone was harsh, accusing.

 

“Excuse me?”  Madge asked in her prissiest tone.  Usually she hated doing anything that reminded people she was the mayor’s daughter.  She was quiet, mild mannered and what some might call mousy.  But, Gale Hawthorne made her so mad; she could turn the tone on without even thinking about it.

 

“I know why you’re encouraging her this little crush of Katniss’.”

 

Madge sighed and snatched the quiver and moved to put it with the rest of the Everdeen’s things. 

 

“This again?  What, did Katniss turn you down again?”

 

“Fuck you Undersee.”

 

_Got it in one,_ Madge thought bitterly.  She wasn’t sure how Gale had found out about Katniss’ feelings for the youngest Mellark.  Maybe she’d told him or maybe he’d just figured it out.  But he’d wasted no time pinning the blame on her townie friend.

 

“So, tell me, Gale.  What’s my master plan, since you have it all figured out.”  Sarcasm dripped from each word.  She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.  Gale’s scowl only deepened in response.

 

“You figure she’ll marry him, become a bakers wife.  Have a bunch of baker babies and turn full merchant.  Give up hunting, the Seam.  Forget who she is.  Katniss is Seam, through and through.  Hope she remembers that before she gets her heart broken by some merchant.”  The way he said it, the word merchant, was like a curse instead of profession.

 

Madge’s blue-eyed gaze went blank as he talked.  She wondered if he’d ever actually _listened_ to the crap he said, or thought before he said it.

 

“God, you’re an idiot.”  She huffed, turning away.

 

“Excuse me?”  He said in a decent imitation of her from moments before.

 

“I don’t even know where to start.”  She said, shooting him another glare.  “You think so little of Katniss that she would forget where she came from?  Like she ever could.  Like she would even _want_ to.  Whether or not she has feelings for a merchant won’t change that.  You’re just mad because she doesn’t have feelings for _you._ ”  She flung the words at him, each one making his eye widen with hurt and anger.  Madge was too riled up to care.  She was so sick of his anti-town bullshit.  It wasn’t her fault her father was the mayor.  It wasn’t Peeta’s fault for being the baker’s son. They both paid for that privilege in ways nobody knew.  Punishing them for their luck of birth was no better than the prejudice most merchants had for Katniss and Gale and the entire Seam for being the children of miners. 

 

All of it was crap. Absolute crap.

 

“Not to mention,” Madge continued.  “Her mother just _died,_ Gale.  Her life is going to change drastically today; you’re her best friend.  Act like it.”  Madge would have surprised at how many had to remind him of that today.

 

Gale had the decency to look alarmed for a second before anger flooded his features once more.

 

“Gale, those boxes aren’t going to move themselves.”  Juniper came in the front door as Katniss came in the back.  The tension was obvious but they ignored it as Juni leveled the young man with a look that left no room for argument.  Seeing three sets of eyes on him, Gale decided to just move the damn boxes.  It was probably safer that way.

 

Madge huffed in annoyance when he left.  Katniss arched a brow, silently asking if she was all right.  Madge just shook her head and tried to ignore the way her heart ached after he left.

 

Katniss wasn’t the only one with a secret crush.  But at least hers wasn’t as hopeless as Madge’s. 

 

“Come along girls.” Juni called.  “I’d like to get your two settled before it gets too late.”

 

“Prim’s bringing the goat around and she got that damn cat into a crate.”

 

“Is that his name?”  Juni’s lips quirked with a hint of a smile.  “That all I ever hear you call him.”

 

“No.  It’s Buttercup.”  Prim appeared behind her, shooting a glare at Katniss.

 

“Damn Cat is better.”  Katniss smirked in return.  Madge took in both girls, nothing the way their skin seemed translucent and the deep dark circles under their eyes.  It looked like they both needed to sleep for a month.  She hoped that they’d both be happy in town.  They both deserved it.

 

“Madge lets get the rest of this outside.  Come along when you’re ready girls.”  Juni patted Prim’s shoulder gently and sent Katniss a smile.  The older girl nodded and held her arms out for Prim.  Her sister flew across the room to Katniss’ arms without hesitation.

 

Neither paid attention as Madge and Juniper stepped out with the last of their belongings.

 

“Do you think we’ll be ok?”  Prim asked, her voice muffled against her sister’s shoulder.  They were nearly the same height now.

 

Katniss took a long around the house they’d lived in all her life.  She thought hard for several seconds before kissing the side of Prim’s blonde head and nodding.

 

“Yeah, I think we will be.”  Prim looked at her them, her blue eyes wet once more.  “Ready?”

 

“Yeah.” Prim nodded and the Everdeen girls walked out the door arm and arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- I wanted to say thank you so much for everyone that has favorited, followed and review this little fic. I don’t respond, mainly because I don’t really know what to say but know that I truly take your words to heart and enjoy what you have to say. Next up…Peeta makes his entrance. Don’t expect mooneyes and shy smiles. ;) Lisa/Jypz


	4. Chapter 3

From the outside, Peeta Mellark had it all.  Good looks, charm, athletic ability and artistic skills.  He was the youngest son of one of the better off merchants in the District.  His oldest brother was a war hero.  His smile was quick and infectious, his confidence unflappable.

 

Unfortunately, the view from the other side was a mess.

 

The glossy veneer of charm was used to hide the anger and self-hate that was nurtured daily by the person that was supposed to love him unconditionally.  Madeline Mellark had spent the first part of his life ignoring him save for the occasional slap or harsh reprimand.  Then, when the war started and his brother Graham and a handful of young men able to fight joined the rebellion, that all changed.

 

Graham had never come home.  And the day her oldest and favorite son died, something broke in his mother.  Peeta and his other brother, Rye, spent their time dodging fists and ignoring the stares and whispers of their neighbors.

 

_Oh those poor boys._

_Someone should do something._

No one ever did.

 

Rye constantly got into fights and drank.  Peeta used charm to get the girls to the slagheap, and then used that same charm to keep them from hating him.  Both were fiercely protective of the other and would often attempt to deflect Madeline.  Some times more successful than others.

 

They both also loved and resented their father.  He couldn’t-or wouldn’t-stand up to his wife, content to let her dole out the abuse so he could run the business.  Peeta always wondered if he felt guilty for Madeline being his obvious second choice. 

 

Everyone in town knew about the romance that had been between Bram Mellark and Ginger Johnson.  They had been practically betrothed.  But then Ginger had met the miner and run off to the Seam.  That left Bram with little else to do then settle.  And Madeline never forgot it was she that had been settled on.

 

Peeta was starting to think that his father’s neglect to intervene on her son’s behalf was worse than his mother’s abuse. 

 

When Rye had turned eighteen, he quit the bakery and went to work in the mines.  Something that before the war would have been as good as a death sentence.  After the war, it was still a dangerous profession.  Drilling big holes in the ground to rape it of its minerals, thereby leaving the ground itself unstable was…well…dangerous by default.  But now that the greedy regime of President Snow and his Capital were no longer in power, safety precautions were now implemented.  Twelve to eighteen hour shifts were no longer allowed and the pay was now decent.  It would never make the miner rich, but at least food wouldn’t have to be optional anymore. 

 

Peeta realized on some level that he should be mad at Rye for essentially abandoning him to deal with his mother alone.  The physical abuse had lessened once he’d gotten taller than her.  And now that he was wrestling, his strength often deterred her worst fits.  But she wasn’t averse to picking up something to whack him with; just to make sure her point was taken. 

 

It also hadn’t gotten past Madeline that Peeta didn’t seem to get his fathers temperament.  He was all Madeline with enough Bram thrown in to temper the worst of the violence in him.

 

He wasn’t a mad at Rye.  He was envious.  Rye got away.  He had moved into one to he new apartment buildings the government were putting up to replace the ramshackle houses of the Seam.  Most of them were tiny, but there was running water and the electricity stayed on.  He lived there with his girlfriend, a girl that had relocated to District 12 from 4.  He was _happy._  

 

Peeta didn’t think he ever would be.

 

He fought daily to suppress the monster living inside of him.  The anger, the violence.  It could rear up on him at any time.  Most times he could tamp it down, he could remind himself that he wasn’t his mother.

 

But other times he would find himself daydreaming about what it would be like to kill his mother.  To finally end the pain that he lived with daily.  And those were the days he was scared of himself.

 

But, for all of his demons raging inside, he was kind.  He was patient.  He still harbored some hope that there was some good in the world. And that happy endings weren’t just for storybooks.  Even if he didn’t think he deserved one.

 

His friend Delly had found one.  Or more to the point, it had found her.

 

When Thom Hardy returned the year before, his service to the war and Panem evident in the limp he walked with, he marched straight to the cobblers shop.  He was Seam, tall and strapping with dark hair and brown eyes.  He was also proud and he looked the cobbler straight in the eyes as he told the stunned man that since he’d fought for the freedom of Panem, he’d earned the right to court Mr. Cartwright’s daughter.

 

The Cartwright family as a whole had been shocked.  Especially Delly, who hadn’t known that Thom even knew who she was.  A Seam boy demanding to court a Merchant girl was unheard of in the time of their parents.  It was still frowned upon now.

 

That might have been the case, but when Thom left the cobblers shop that day, he had permission to court Delly.  And now they were engaged, with Peeta set to make their toasting cake, much to his mother’s horror.

 

“Peeta quit daydreaming you worthless thing.  Finish cleaning up.” 

 

“Yes, ma’am.”  Peeta mumbled.  He was standing by the front door, having just flipped the closed sign over, broom in his hand.  He was watching the strange little procession moving across the square.  Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Juniper Johnson, Madge Undersee and Primrose Everdeen were heading into town, straight for the bakery.

 

_The Apothecary,_ Peeta corrected himself.

 

Gale was pushing a cart full of boxes, Prim was leading a goat and Katniss had her bow slung over her shoulder.  It made him want to chuckle at the spectacle they must be creating with the other merchants.

 

“Damn shame.”  Madeline huffed, her distaste obvious.  She’d come up behind Peeta to see what he was looking at.

 

“What?”  Peeta heard himself ask without really wanting to know the answer.  The question had been automatic.

 

“Shame Juniper has to have that trash in her house.  I would have sent the both of them to the community home where they belong.”  Madeline gave a little nod at the end, as if punctuating her point.  Peeta rolled his eyes.  He knew she was pissed his father had gone to the funeral the day before. 

 

He would have gone as well, for no other reason than to support a classmate.  But his mother had insisted that he run the shop during the two hours his father was gone.  He’d always felt a kinship to Katniss, since that day in the rain.  He’d never acted on it though.  Since she’d never tried to speak to him since that day, he’d figured she was embarrassed. He would have like to have been friends with her. 

 

But it was probably for the best.  Being friends with him, more to the point, a _girl_ being friends with him had a tendency to have a reputation.  He did like to visit the slagheap.  The only reason Delly didn’t get caught up in the gossip was because she’d been a friend with him since they’d both been in diapers.  Peeta didn’t like the idea of people talking about Katniss like that.  Even though they already did thanks to her friendship with Gale.

 

He hated the social divide that still existed in Twelve, despite the war.  Especially since there wasn’t really a Seam anymore.  Most of the worst houses had been torn down and rebuilt.  The apartment buildings were right on the edge of town and just as many merchants as Seam lived there.  Not to mention the influx of people coming in from other districts.  Hunger wasn’t as prevalent, poverty not as rampant.  Things were still hard for all of them, but they all stood on more equal footing now.

 

But old prejudices die hard, he knew as he watched Gale his scowl way across the road.  It made Peeta wonder what his brother died for, what did Thom lose his leg for if things weren’t going to change for the better?

 

“Filth.  The lot of them.’  Madeline decided as the little parade made it to the apothecary and out of sight.  Peeta didn’t acknowledge that she had spoken.  He merely went back to sweeping the floor.

 

* * *

The next day, Saturday, Peeta was manning the front counter when Katniss and Primrose came into the bakery.  He looked over her slight form, approving of the way she filled out the jeans and t-shirt she was wearing.   He smiled when her eyes met his, noticing the pretty blush the warmed her skin before her gaze danced away.  He had just opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted.

 

“Trades are done around back, girl.”  Madeline came through the kitchen door when she saw the sisters through the window.  Katniss’ face twisted into the usual scowl she wore as the smile Prim had been giving him fell.

 

“Not here to trade.”  Katniss answered, slamming her palm down on the counter.  When she pulled it back Peeta saw the coins she’d been holding laying on the surface.  She arched a dark brow at his mother and Peeta turned around to look at her himself.  He smirked when he saw how torn she was between kicking the Everdeen girls out and taking their money.

 

Greed won out, because a minute later, Madeline let out a disgusted huff and disappeared back the way she came.

 

Peeta chuckled as the door swung closed and turned back to Katniss.

 

“I’m impressed.”  He said with a grin.  He saw her chest hitch a little before she answered.

 

“Why?”

 

“You stood up to Madeline Mellark with only a raised eyebrow and won.”  Most people in Twelve just went around his mother.  It was easier that way.

 

“Oh.”  She looked pleased at this and another blush colored her cheeks.  Peeta found himself charmed by it. 

 

“What can I get you?”

 

“A loaf of sourdough, please.”  Now that Madeline was gone, Katniss seemed nervous.  He smiled again to put her at ease and turned to get her bread.

 

“These are so pretty.”  Prim gushed, looking at the cakes in the display window.

 

“Thank you.”  Peeta said, turning back around and handing Katniss the bag.  Their fingers brushed during the exchange and he felt a little zing from the contact.  He arched a brow and his grin widened when he saw her eyes bug and her cheeks blush impossibly redder.  She jerked her hand back as if she were burned.

 

“Did you decorate them?”  He heard Prim ask, but it took him a second to answer.  He was too busy waiting to see if Katniss’ eyes would land back on his.  Right now they were darting around looking at anything but.

 

“Yeah.  I did.  I do most of the decorating.”

 

“That’s so cool.”  Prim sighed, going back to the displays.

 

“So, Katniss.  You settling in okay at your aunts?”  He leaned on the counter, his grin fading to a sympathetic smile, his eyes finally meeting her storm cloud colored orbs.

 

“Uh..uhm.. Yeah.  Sure.”  She stammered, dropping her eye for a brief second. 

 

“I’m very sorry about your mother.  I can’t imagine how hard it must be.”  _But at least I won’t find you starving under our apple tree this time,_ he thought to himself.

 

“It’s been an adjustment.”  Katniss said, her fingers crinkling the bag.  Prim cast her sad blue eyes on him and he felt a tug in his heart.  He really couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose not one, but both parents.  Their foundation rocked to the core twice.  He hoped this time was easier than the last. Though he couldn’t figure out how it would be. 

 

On impulse, he reached into the glass case in front of him and pulled out two sugar cookies, sliding them into the small bag and handing it over to Prim.  She smiled wide and thanked him.

 

“We can pay for those.”  Katniss said immediately, reaching into her pocket for the change Peeta had given her.

 

“No, Katniss.  I want to.  It’s not charity.  It’s a gift.”  He told her, his gaze steady on hers as he practically dared her to either give them back or give him money.

 

After a few tense seconds of them staring at each other and Prim staring at them, Katniss’ pursed her lips and frowned. 

 

“Fine.  Thank you.”  She ground out.  Prim bounced up and down, laughing and Peeta grinned again.  He felt a sense of accomplishment when Katniss returned his smile, though begrudgingly.  “We should get back.  Thanks.” 

 

“Bye Peeta.”  Prim waved as the girls left the store.  Peeta watched them until they were out of sight.  He didn’t miss the way Katniss paused at the edge of the window to look back.  When she saw him looking at her she scurried away.

 

Peeta chuckled and picked up the bar towel to wipe of the counter when he heard his mother call for him.

 

Sighing, he walked through the kitchen door.

”Yeah,” He didn’t know why, or how he knew.  As soon as he was through the door, he raised his left hand to block the rolling pin she’d aimed at him.  Pain lanced from his wrist to his shoulder and he grit his teeth to keep from calling out.

 

“How dare you make a fool out of me?  Letting that trash talk to me like that.  Then what the hell do you do?  You give them cookies?  Stupid, stupid boy.”

 

The pin swung again but this time Peeta caught it.  He wrenched it out of her hands and threw it on the ground. He held his hand against his body protectively and glared at her.

 

“Madeline, leave the boy alone.”  Bram said from across the kitchen.  Peeta glared over at him and backed out the door.

 

“Shut up Bram.  It’s your fault he’s as soft as he is.  I’m trying to toughen him up.  Then maybe we could actually make a profit instead of letting all the product walk out the front door.”  The door swung closed again on his mother’s voice.  His wrist burned like fire and he was afraid she’d done some real damage. 

”I’m taking a break.” He yelled, the pain making his voice harsh.  Tears burned in his eyes as he walked out the front door.  He forced himself to let his arm swing naturally by his side even though he was pretty sure it was already starting to bruise.  He was two steps away from the Apothecary when he realized that Katniss and Prim were inside there now.  Embarrassment almost had him heading back home. He could wrap it up himself and deal with it.  He’d about decided that when a kid running down the sidewalk bumped into him, jarring his wrist so hard he nearly cried out.

 

Peeta held the wrist against his chest and walked the rest of the way to the Apothecary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hope you enjoy. Review, review, review. :D Lisa/Jypz


	5. Chapter 4

# Chapter Four

“Good morning.  How can I…Peeta?”  Prim looked at him with narrowed blue eyes, her gaze quick to pick out the way he was holding his wrist.  She was the only one in the storefront, which Peeta was thankful for. Not that he had any illusions that Prim wouldn’t report back to Katniss.  People always talked about the Mellarks.

 

Peeta offered her a smile that he hoped didn’t look like a grimace of pain and stopped in front of her.

 

“Hey, Prim.  Is your Aunt around?”  His voice sounded rough to his own ears and by the look that passed over the younger blondes face, she didn’t miss the shakiness of it either.  Then her blue eyes widened comically when they landed on the arm he was holding and she started to nod, making her twin braids dance.

 

“Sure.  Aunt Juni!”  Prim moved to the end of the counter where the opening to the back rooms was. 

 

“Yes, Prim?”  Juni stepped through the door, took one look at Peeta and pursed her lips.  “Hello, Peeta.  Come on back.”

 

Peeta moved around the counter and past Prim, to the small examination room Juni led him too.  Prim waited for the door to swing closed before she bolted up the stairs to the apartment.

 

“What can I do for you, Peeta?”  Juni patted the thin cot before she walked to the sink and washed her hands.  When she turned back, Peeta was sitting on the cot, cradling his arm.  She could tell it was swelling and a bruise was developing along the length of his forearm.  Juni pursed her lips again and shook her head.  “Let me see.”

 

Peeta let her take his arm in her hands, which were cold and gentle against the painful throb of his injury.  He hissed when she pressed a particularly painful spot.

 

“Can you move your wrist?”

 

Peeta let out a choked groan of pain when he tried.  When she tried to have him wiggle his fingers he couldn’t.

 

“Well, Peeta.  I think it’s broken.  Only way to be sure is to go to the doctor so he can do an x-ray.”  Juni leaned against the chest of drawers she kept supplies in and looked him square in the eye.  “And of course, the Doc might want to know what happened.” She arched a brow, silently telling him she wanted to know, too.  Peeta just gave her a grin and a cavalier shrug.

 

“I don’t have the money for that.  And I just busted it against the side of the table.  You can set it, right?”

 

Juniper gave him a long look, her green eyes gazing at him with sad knowledge in them.  She didn’t like thinking how many times she’d been here with this boy.  And she didn’t want to guess how many more times she’d be here in the future.

 

“Peeta, when do you turn eighteen?”

 

“In December.”  Peeta narrowed his eyes at her question. 

 

“What do you plan to do then?”

 

“What do you mean?”  The shutter that went over the boy’s eyes made her sigh.  She paused a moment, as if considering her words.

 

“When Rye turned eighteen, he went to work in the mines.  Is that something you’re considering?”

 

Juni saw a flare of temper behind the calm shutter of his midnight eyes.  She knew she was overstepping the invisible line he’d drawn the first time he’d come to see her on his own.  He’d been so young, barely twelve, she remembered.  It was right after the war started and his brother Graham had come home in a box.

 

Madeline Mellark hadn’t taken the death of her oldest son very well.  She’d taken her grief out on Peeta.  He’d had bruised ribs, a split lip and deep nail marks in his biceps.  He’d been so small, then. Well before he’d developed the muscle and bulk he carried now.  But, he sat on her table then, stoic and wide eyed, the blue glittery with tears he refused to let fall.

 

Once she’d treated him and sent him home, she’d walked herself up to Bram Mellark and asked him just what he thought was going on under his roof.  She’d ignored his grief; it was no excuse for allowing the boys’ mother to do that to his youngest son.  He’d sworn he hadn’t known and that he would look into it.

 

Rye was her patient a week later.

 

Juniper had wanted to go to the authorities.  Both boys begged her not too.  Living under the threat of their mother was apparently preferable to living in the community home.  The sad thing was, Juni had to agree.

 

As she took in Peeta now, there was no trace of that twelve-year-old boy, except in the eyes.  They were as blue as they were then and just as troubled, despite the wall he built up.  And right now that wall had slipped and he was glaring at her with barely concealed anger.

 

“I want the bakery.” He said simply.  Juni nodded and only hesitated a second before speaking again.

 

“Then, I suggest when you turn eighteen, the next time she does this, press charges for assault.  You don’t deserve this. And if your damn father isn’t’ going to do anything about it, you should.”  She finished quietly.  Peeta blinked in surprise, that wall he put up slipping further for the briefest of seconds before the shutter slammed down again.  He nodded once to acknowledge what she said but he didn’t offer anything else.

 

Taking what she could get, Juni started to gather the supplies she’d need to set his arm.  “I’m going to call Prim in here now to assist, all right?”  It wasn’t really a question but she waited until Peeta nodded before moving to the door and calling for her youngest niece.

 

Prim came in a minute later, her smile soft and her eyes concerned.   As they set to work on setting his arm, he tried to laugh and joke with Prim.  But his obvious attempt at distracting her from the cause of his injury only had her responding smile look forced.  He stopped after a few minutes, his jaw clenched and a red tinge of shame on his cheeks.

 

“All right, Peeta.  You’re set.  Keep that arm out of the shower.  Try not to get it wet at all.  Paint some of those pretty pictures of yours on the cast if you want.  Come back in four weeks and we’ll cut you out of that thing.  Please,” she stepped in front of him, her green eyes locking with his.  “Please be careful.”

 

“Always.”  Peeta said with a return of his grin. 

 

“I’ll be right back, Prim.  You can start cleaning those things up.”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

Katniss stood by the stairs to the apartment, staying just out of sight so Peeta didn’t know she’d seen him.  Her heart ached at the sight of his arm wrapped up in the hard cast.  Tears sprang to her eyes at the thought that his mother had done that.  Because there was absolutely no question in her mind how the injury had happened.  She wanted to march right over to the bakery and send one of her arrows straight through that witch’s eye.

 

She didn’t understand how anyone could do that to their child. 

 

“You can come out now, Katniss.”  Juni called when the bell over the door rang, indicating Peeta had left.  Katniss stepped out of the shadows and into the shop, her gaze trained on the door.  Juni gave her a sad smile and patted her shoulder as she moved towards the back.

 

“Aunt Juni, he didn’t pay.”  Prim said, stepping out into the shop with her sister and aunt.  She looked very upset, her nose and eyes pink with tears she was trying to keep at bay.

 

“Bram will come by later and settle up.”

 

Katniss scowled at that.  She crossed her arms over her chest, her brows pulling tight over her eyes and her heart breaking in her chest. 

 

“He can make sure to come pay for your services but he can’t do anything about the reason Peeta keeps needing them?” Nothing could make her believe that this was Peeta’s first time visiting her Aunt.  Nothing.  Juni didn’t answer the outburst.  There wasn’t really any answer she could give.

 

“It’s so sad.” Prim said, shaking her head.  “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

 

Juniper shook her head sadly.  “If I report her, then he gets sent to the home.  And I bet you can imagine how much he wants to go there.”

 

“So he just gets beat?”

 

“Katniss,” Prim started but was cut off by the sharp silver eyes her sister looked at her with.

 

“It’s not that simple, Katniss.”  Juni said.

 

“Of course its that simple.  If you see someone in trouble, you help.  You don’t just stand by and let a little boy get beat because its easier than turning his bitch of a mother in.  Or ignoring a little girl whose family is starving because her mother is so overcome with grief she can’t function.  You don’t let people die because you’re too damn scared to do anything!”  By the time Katniss was done saying probably the most she’d ever said about anything in her whole life, she was breathing hard, her eyes stinging with anger, tears and accusation that was pointed squarely at her aunt. 

 

No matter how much she’d started to respect and even like Juniper, it was still fact that she was letting Peeta be abused and that she’d let her own family almost starve.  Ironically, if it hadn’t been for Peeta, they might have.  She hated this. Hated knowing that the person that was responsible for her and Prim was just as weak as her mother.

 

Juniper stood stone still, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, her lips pressed into a tight line and her eyes shining with something Katniss refused to see as regret. 

 

“I’m not going to make an excuse for what happened to you when your father died.  I didn’t find out about it until much later.  By then you were out in the woods, supporting the three of you and I didn’t figure that you would want some merchant aunt you didn’t know sticking her nose in your business.  I regret everyday that I wasn’t more a part of your lives and that I couldn’t stand up to my parents the way Ginger did.  I’m sorry.  And I’m sorry that I can’t do for Peeta what you want me to do.  He’s almost eighteen.  His life will be in his own hands soon enough.  Things can’t always be the way we think they should be.  That’s just a reality of it and its mostly never fair.”  Juniper rubbed her hands on her pants legs and pursed her lips as if considering saying something else.  But instead, she just shook her head and moved to go to the stairs. 

 

“Prim, I’ll be upstairs for a few minutes.  If you need anything come get me.” 

 

Prim just shook her head again tears shining in her eyes as well.  Katniss watched her aunt go upstairs her body practically vibrating with anger and more than a little bit of sorrow.  She looked at her younger sister, the obvious signs of her trying not to start sobbing all over her face.

 

“Katniss, it will be ok.” Prim offered, her voice quietly reassuring Katniss the best she could.  Katniss shook her head, sending her braid whipping around her head.

 

“For us maybe. But what about him?” Katniss didn’t wait for her to answer. She took off out the back of the store, pausing only to collect her bow on her way. She was heading out the woods. That was the only place where anything made any sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologize again for letting myself fall off my update schedule. Real life is giving me a damn good bootie kick these last couple of weeks. Hopefully it will all sort out soon. Anyhoo, for the reviewer that asked me when the Gadge is going to start, be patient. I will start laying the groundwork in the next chapter. I’m sorry it’s a little short. I hope you guys like this one and I’ll be updating Games next, then Promise this weekend. Review, review, review. I could use the boost to my mood. :D Lisa/Jypz


	6. Chapter 6

# Chapter Five

 

 

Katniss stomped through town, her bow slung over her shoulder, her scowl deep and angry.  People watched her go by, eyeing her warily like a wild animal.  No one dared approach her.  The odds of winding up with an arrow in their hide seemed particularly high that day.

 

Tears burned her eyes, threatening to fall the further she walked.  She pushed angrily forward, her normally light step pounding harsh against the dirt roads.  The district was slowly paving the roads, but so far hadn’t made it too far outside of town.

 

Her gaze jerked forward when she heard laughter, the sound so out of place with her mood she wanted to growl at whoever it was.  When her eyes landed on Rye Mellark walking among a group of miners coming home from third shift, Katniss veered towards him without thought.

 

Rye saw her coming when she was still several feet away.  He arched a coal dusted blond brow and nodded to his friends as they veered off towards their homes.  He paused when her steely gaze on him indicated he was her target and not Gale, who walked not too far behind him.  Gale obviously thought she was looking for him because he stopped next to the shorter, stockier blond.

 

Katniss barely looked at her friend as she stopped in front of Rye.  He looked down at her, confusion clear on his coal-streaked face.  Katniss knew him from trading at the bakery before he quit, but she’d never said a word to him.  Now here she was marching right up to him, her steel eyes razor sharp in the sun.

 

“Katniss,” he greeted, ignoring the Seam man next to him.  They were actually friendly, he and Gale, despite the other man’s distaste for all things merchant.  But it was obvious Katniss was there to speak to Rye, which he could tell by the tension rolling off the man next to him, didn’t set well with Gale.

 

Katniss looked up at him, her jaw working as if she had something to say, but wasn’t sure how to start.

 

“Catnip?”  Gale questioned, drawing a wicked glare from his best friend.  Rye almost laughed, and then Katniss finally opened her mouth.

 

“She broke his wrist.”

 

Katniss could have punched him in the gut and it couldn’t have hurt more.  He was silent for a long moment while anger hazed his vision and despair at his brother's situation settled hard on his shoulders.

 

“When?” he didn’t ask how she knew.  Everyone in the district knew that the Everdeen girls moved to the Apothecary.  That’s where Peeta would have gone to get treated.

 

“This morning.”

 

Rye took this in, his eyes going distant as he heaved in a deep breath. 

 

“Thank you.” He said honestly, ruffling a hand through his hair.  The action made the dark blond tresses stick up at odd angles.  Katniss might have thought it was endearing if she wasn’t so angry.

 

“Why can’t he live with you?” Katniss blurted when Rye stepped around her.  He turned and looked at her, his blue eyes so similar to Peeta's save for the flecks of brown around the pupils.  He shook his head, the pain in his face stark and open for a brief second before he collected himself.

 

“He wants the bakery, Katniss.  If he leaves, he won’t get it.”  He tells her, his words echoing Peeta’s to Juni just an hour or so earlier.  This, more than the excuse Juni gave her, made sense.  Katniss blinked against the burning in her eyes and nodded.  Rye looked at her a moment longer, then, giving a half wave to Gale he walked away towards town.

 

“Katniss?” Gale called out to her, the soft way he said her name making her tenuous hold on her emotions weaken even further.

 

“I can’t…. I need to go kill something.”  She said, managing an apologetic smile as she continued her trek to the woods.

 

* * *

 

 

When Gale found her two hours later after going home to quickly clean up, she’d only made it to the rock they usually met at on Gale’s days off.  Her eyes were puffy and just as red as her nose.  Katniss rarely cried and when she did it wasn’t half-assed.

 

“What’s wrong, Catnip?”  He asked, settling his long frame next to hers.  She looked as if she’d been expecting him.  Katniss leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder and taking along, shuddering breath.

 

“Mrs. Mellark broke Peeta’s wrist this morning.”

 

Gale had gathered that much from her conversation with Rye.  The abuse inside the walls of the bakery was the worst kept secret in the district.  From the physical and verbal abuse Mrs. Mellark doled out to the neglect of Mr. Mellark who let it happen, it was a wonder the authorities didn’t take Peeta on the rumors alone.

 

Gale sighed.  He didn’t really know what she wanted him to say so he settled on silence.  It wasn’t that he didn’t feel sympathetic to the Baker’s problem.  He just didn’t bother with much that didn’t directly involve him, especially when it came to Merchants.  If they wanted to needlessly self-destruct, what was it to him?

 

But he didn’t feel like wasting this ever-increasing rarity of having Katniss to himself for few minutes, so he kept his thoughts in his head.

 

“I thought you came out here to kill something?”  He reminded her, earning a quiet chuckle.

 

“Yeah.  Guess I changed my mind.”  She lifted her head and rubbed her hands over her face.  Gale found himself caught by the way the sunlight dappled through the trees to shine on her hair.  He shook himself, trying to ignore how close she was to him.  He could smell the soft scent of her shampoo, something subtly sweet and the smell of the woods that always clung to her skin.  She reminded him of everything that had ever been good in his life and he hated that she was sad.

 

“Come on.  Let’s go check the snares.”  He ignored the way his voice had thickened and the slow pull of his blood moving south.  When she nodded he slid off the rock, holding out a hand to help her down.  She looked at his hand for a second with a raised eyebrow, but she did take it.  And he supposed she was glad she did when her foot landed on a rock, throwing her off balance. 

 

Gale tightened his grip, pulling her against him to keep her from falling.  Her hand braced on his chest, her eyes rising to meet his with chagrin.

 

“Thanks.”  She mumbled, an embarrassed flush creeping up her cheeks.  He smirked and nodded, her tiny body pressed against his stirring feelings he tried to hard to suppress.  Without letting himself think about the consequences, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.  Her mouth was warm and dry and so, so soft.  In the brief second it took her to realize what was going on, a giddy feeling blossomed in his chest. 

 

Then, Katniss tore out of his arms, anger twisting her features and he was almost afraid she’d nock an arrow and shoot him.

 

“Sorry. I had to do that, at least once.”

 

“Gale, dammit.”  Her anger deflated but she was still glaring pretty fiercely at him.

 

“You can’t say you weren’t a little bit curious?”  He hated that he sounded hopeful. That maybe the crush she’d had on Peeta Mellark for years wasn’t quite strong enough to completely block his chances.  The look of sympathy that she tried to hide told him otherwise.

 

“Gale, I…” Whatever she was going to say, Gale knew he didn’t want to hear it.

 

“Hey, it’s fine. I know you’ve got your happy Town life now.  Why would you want to slum with a Seam rat like me?” 

 

The anger was back, this time it was downright rage.  He almost backed up a step when he saw her tiny hand curl into a fist.  The thought of her hitting him would have been laughable, if he himself hadn’t spent several afternoons making sure she could defend herself.  He knew she was small but she could pack a hell of a punch.

 

“Fuck you, Gale.  Don’t push your prejudices on me.  You’re my best friend.  Quit trying to ruin that.”  Hurt slashed through him at that.  Is that what she really thought?  That a relationship with him would be ruinous? 

 

“Whatever Katniss.  Just forget it.  I’ll take my poor ass back home and you can sit here and cry over a merchants problems.  A bad day in town is still better than a good day in the Seam.”

 

“Oh get over yourself, Gale.  When are you going to realize that it’s tough all over?  You think just because I’m in town, or Peeta and Madge were born there that things are so much better?  I’ve only been there one day and I can tell you they sure the hell aren’t.”

 

Gale scoffed at that, the image of Madge’s healthy complexion, shiny hair and clean , coal dust free clothes coming to mind. 

 

“Don’t even _try_ to tell me that Madge Undersee has it rough.  The mayor’s daughter?”

 

Katniss threw up her hands in frustration, her foot stamping hard in the dirt.  “Don’t you get it Gale?  _Everybody’s_ poor in District Twelve.  Just some people are _less_ poor.  Nobody has it easy.  Even Madge.  So give her a break and get to know her.  _Then_ decide if you like her or not, not just because of your stupid prejudices.”  Katniss glared at him for a long minuet, taking in the hard expression on his face.  “Stubborn.”  She muttered, hitching her bow up further on her arm and turning to walk away.

 

“Katniss!”  Gale called, huffing and shoving a hand through his hair.  She waved a hand over her head telling him clearly to back off.  He scowled after her, watching her until she was out of sight.  Then, because he was already there, he walked his snare lines, bagging the two rabbits he found. 

 

He found a blackberry bush that was all but picked over.  He did find a few plump berries that the birds hadn’t gotten too.  He picked them as well.  By the time he walked back to the district it was late afternoon.  He’d spent much more time in the woods, willing his temper back under control than he’d thought. 

 

He went to Hob, trading one of the rabbits with Greasy Sae for a few coins, which he promptly used at another booth for the soap his mother used for her washing.  He also had his weekly wages in his pocket, but he preferred to give those to his mother to use as she needed.  He put the rest of the coin from the rabbit aside for later.  Whatever he received from his trades was the only money he allowed himself.  Everything else went to his mother.

 

He had a hard time believing that anyone in town could understand his life.  He worked his time in the mines, worrying every day that he was going to wind up like his father.  Buried deep in the mountain that he worked.  Even though the conditions were a hundred times better than when his father worked there.  The war had made sure of that.

The war he’d been too young to go fight.  Something he’d wanted to do with all his heart.  He’d wanted to help create a better Panem.  And it was better.  There was no more fear of the Hunger Games, no more reapings.  No more starvation.  Things weren’t perfect, they never would be.  But he didn’t have to worry about his brothers or his sweet little sister Posy.  They could all get a good education and learn more than just about coal.  They could be whatever they wanted and for that Gale was truly thankful.

 

There was a factory being built for medicines.  Their housing was safe and warm with electricity and real running water.  Despite all that, he couldn’t quite shake the resentment he felt towards the blond haired, blue-eyed class of Merchants.  They’d always been the ‘haves’ while the people of the Seam had always been the ‘have-nots’.

 

 And despite Katniss’ impassioned speech, that was a hard thing to let go of.

 

Gale moved through town, without really thinking about where he was going.  It wasn’t until he found himself walking the path around the side of the Mayor’s mansion that he realized his feet had brought him to Madge.

 

He hesitated at the side door.  This was where he usually came to trade strawberries with Madge.  He didn’t have any strawberries, and the few blackberries he’d salvaged weren’t enough to really trade.

 

But, he’d come all this way.  So he raised his hand and knocked, surprised when the door swung open quickly to reveal Madge.

 

“Gale.  Hi.”  Madge opened the door wider, her blonde brows furrowed over her clear blue eyes.  She glanced around him, like she was expecting Katniss to step around him or something.

 

“Katniss says I should get to know you before I decide to hate you.” Gale blurted out, feeling a tinge of heat crawl up his neck at her surprised look.

 

“Ok?”  It came out a question, like she wasn’t sure what to say.  She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him.

 

“So, do you want to get to know me, too?”

 

“Uhm…sure.”  Again, her voice rose at the end like a question, but she nodded to make sure he knew she was serious.

 

“Ok.  Good.”  Gale nodded his head like all was settled.  He looked at Madge for another minute as she waited for him to say something more.  “I’ll come around tomorrow.”

 

She nodded, clearly not sure if she should be amused or extremely confused.  She figured both were in order right now.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”  She offered.

 

“Yeah.  Good.  Tomorrow.”  Gale turned halfway, still looking at her as if considering something.  Then he gave a sharp nod, touched his fingers to his forehead in a wave and took off back around the path to the front of the house.

 

‘Was that the Hawthorne boy?”  Bonnie, their housekeeper asked as she came into the kitchen to start dinner.  Her daughter Twill trailed behind her and settled on the floor in front of the fireplace with a book.

 

“Yes it was.”  Madge closed the door and leaned on it.  Katniss had said he needed to get to know her better?  And he listened?

 

“Did he bring anything?”  Bonnie tied her apron around her waist and looked over at Madge who was still leaning on the door.  “Madge?”

 

“Huh? Oh, no.  He…just came by to say hi.”  She figured that was the simplest explanation.

 

“Oh, really?”  There was no mistaking the smirk on the older woman’s face.  Madge shook her head and gave a little laugh.

 

“I don’t think it’s anything like that.”

 

“We’ll see.  Should I start setting an extra place at dinner?”

 

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Bonnie.  Thanks.”  Madge said with a chuckle and walked out of the kitchen.

 

“We’ll see.”  Bonnie said again, pulling out chicken for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you’ll notice that in all my stories I keep continuity. Bonnie works for Madge in The Games We Lost, I’m using Ginger as Mrs. Everdeen’s name through all three of my stories and future stories, and Prim will have had or will have a little crush on Rye, or wind up with him depending on the story. Oh and Madge and Gale will probably always wind up together. I haven’t decided about Juni though. I’m not sure it will make sense for her to show up in Games, or Promise. But I will probably use her for any future stories I write.
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed and reviewed this and my others. Please, for those that are interested, give Games a try. It’s my baby. Lol. Review, review, review. Lisa/Jypz


	7. Chapter six-Those Mellark Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta Scoutchick104 for looking at this and making it legible. :D

Rye let himself into the back of the bakery after he’d tugged off his coal dusted boots, a sigh of relief puffing his cheeks when he saw the only person in the kitchen was his father. Bram looked up, pleasure at seeing his middle son beaming through the smile on his face.

“Hey pop.” Rye made sure his voice didn’t carry. He could hear Madeline’s voice drifting back from the front of the store. He had no desire to deal with her.

“Rye,” Bram said simply with a nod of his silver head.

“Where’s Peet?” 

“You’ve heard?” Shame coasted over the older man’s face. Rye didn’t let it get to him. There had been too many years of this. He grunted his affirmation and Bram nodded his head towards the stairs. “Don’t let your mother know you’re here.”

Rye didn’t care one way or the other if Madeline didn’t like that he was there. But he figured Peeta had had enough of her shit for one day.

“I won’t stay long.” Rye told his father, already heading for the apartment. As he climbed the stairs, quietly, he wondered if it was going to take Madeline killing Peeta for his father to do anything about her. He quickly pushed that horrifying thought away, the idea of it enough to make his stomach churn painfully.

He moved carefully through his childhood home, feeling none of the nostalgia a grown child might feel. There was nothing in these walls that held pleasant memories. Those had been reserved for the bakery. That was mostly his father’s domain. But up here, away from prying eyes, Madeline Mellark reigned supreme.

Rye stopped at the door of the room he’d once shared with his younger brother. Graham had had his own room and he knew that it still stood as a shrine to Madeline’s favored son. Peeta was sitting on his bed, his knees bent and a sketchbook balanced on top. His skilled hand dragged across the surface, the un-casted fingers of his other holding the book steady as he sketched.

Peeta glanced up at Rye’s soft knock on the open door and smiled before going back to his drawing. 

“At least it wasn’t your right hand.” Rye said, moving further into the room. He pulled out the chair at the desk he’d spent more than one night at ignoring his homework and sat down. He was tired, bone tired. Hours spent drilling in the earth, despite the advancements that had been made since the war was no easy task. 

“Didn’t you just get off shift?” 

“Yeah.” Rye scrubbed his hands over his face, hating the smell of coal that clung to his skin.

“Why aren’t you at home asleep?” 

“Katniss Everdeen.”

That had Peeta stopping, head raised to pay full attention to his brother. Rye couldn’t help but grin at the shocked annoyance on Peeta’s face.

“What?”

“Yep. Stomped up to me, pretty as you please, telling me that she broke your wrist. By she I assumed Madeline, unless Delly finally decide to stand up for all of woman kind and crack you one.” 

The thought of Delly doing just that to her best friend for being such a man whore was hysterical to Rye. Peeta snorted as well, but it didn’t soften his features.

“Didn’t take her for being a gossip.” Peeta said with a disgusted curl to his lip.

“She didn’t gossip, Peet. She told your brother that you’d been hurt. I appreciated it. None of you would.” He gave his brother a pointed look. Peeta wouldn’t have told him to save him the concern, and his parents wouldn’t have told him to save the shame. Well his father anyway. Madeline wouldn’t have cared either way. Peeta just jerked a shoulder in response. “Yeah. Thought so.”

“What’s the point? You can’t do anything about it.”

“Come on, Peeta.” Rye knew he sounded borderline desperate. “She asked why you couldn’t come live with me.”

“You know why.” Peeta went back to his book, his hand moving in angry strokes across the page. 

“I know.” Rye agreed, but a shake of his blond head drew Peeta’s attention again. “But damn it, is this fucking worth it? Shit, Peet.” His frustration made his chest tight. He wanted to keep Peeta safe, but he couldn’t stay in that house anymore. He’d asked Peeta to go then and his brother had said no.  
“Rye, come on.” Peeta’s own frustration rose up and he glared over at his brother. “If I left, she’d make sure I never got this place. She’d make sure the doors closed before she’d let me take over.”

“So, open your own damn bakery.”

“I’m fine. Really.”

“No, you’re really not fine.” Rye countered. He couldn’t help the defeated slump of his shoulders. He’d failed as a brother and that burden hung heavy on him.

“Stop it,” Peeta said, giving Rye a pointed look of his own. They sat in a heavy silence for several seconds before Rye decided a subject change was in order.

“So, that Katniss. She was pretty upset.” He gave Peeta a suggestive wink. Peeta just shrugged again. “Didn’t you used to have a thing for her.”

“In kindergarten. I liked her voice.” Peeta admitted with a dismissive wave. “So what?”

“So,” Rye dragged the word out three beats, wondering why his brother was acting so damn clueless. The Seam girl had been more agitated than a concerned neighbor should have been, and Rye wondered if maybe she held a little thing for his sibling. “She seems into you. Very protective.” Wink. “Why not see where it goes?”

Peeta shook his head. “Nah. She’s not the kind of girl you take to the slag heap.” Rye stared at him for a long beat before he realized that the younger man was serious.

“Shit, Peet. Who said anything about the slagheap? Aren’t you tired of being the town slut yet? Why don’t you just take the girl out on a damn date or something?”

Peeta looked up at him then, the look in his eyes making Rye wonder if he’d sprouted a second head.

“Because dating leads to relationships, which leads to marriage, which leads to kids.” Peeta sprouted off as if it were obvious.

“You know, going to the slag heap can do that too. Babies don’t always wait for marriage.” Rye reminded him.

“I’m careful.”

Rye had hoped that that Peeta would outgrow his determination to never get married  
or have kids. He hadn’t yet, apparently.

“I don’t understand why you don’t want to have kids. It’s not like we have to worry about the Reaping anymore.” Rye had survived one more Reaping than Peeta. He still had nightmares.

“I don’t understand why you do.” Peeta countered with an arched brow. 

“I dunno.” Rye admitted with a shrug and a grin. “The idea of a little mini me running around appeals.”

“Yeah. But c’mon. With our upbringing? Why risk it?”

And there was the crux of it. Peeta’s fear that he would be the type of parent their mother was. Or worse, their father.

“Peeta,” Rye’s voice was soft, the sadness he felt almost overwhelming him. “We aren’t them.” Even though he knew his temper could rival Madeline’s, Rye stopped letting it get the better of him. He refused to let his parent’s faults define who he was as a person. Peeta needed to see the same worth in himself.

“No. But we have their blood in us. I won’t let that happen.”

“Exactly. You would never hurt your kid, Peeta. You don’t have it in you.” Rye insisted. His brother sat on his bed, his pencil poised over the paper but not drawing. He could see the tense anger in the younger man’s shoulders and sighed. “You’re selling yourself short. We have it in us to be better. You just gotta believe it, man.” He was almost pleading now, desperate to reach the brother he would have volunteered for. The only person on the planet he knew without a doubt that he loved.

Rye needed Peeta to believe in himself. He just didn’t know how to get the younger boy there.

“I’m not worth it.” Peeta said quietly, breaking Rye’s heart. He could hear Madeline in those words and he wanted to go down to the bakery and kill her.

“Peet,” Rye’s voice was barely a whisper now, his throat almost closed with the tears he knew couldn’t be shed. Neither he nor Peeta would benefit from them.

“So, how’s Maris?” Peeta quickly changed the subject, the set of his jaw telling Rye to let it go. He decided he would. For now.

“She, uh…” Rye rubbed his forehead with a thumb, causing a streak of coal dust to trail across his skin. “She moved out.”

“What?” Peeta nearly shouted, his blue eyes wide. “Why?”

“Something about the coal dust settling into everything. She actually went back to her home district.” Rye wished he could feel something for the loss of the girl. But all he felt was an odd sense of relief. He knew on some level he wasn’t in love with her. It was a bit of a pill to swallow at first. But when he realized that he wasn’t feeling any pain after her things were cleared out, he figured it was a good time to start being honest with himself. He’d met her his last year of school. And he knew he had used her as an excuse to move out. The only thing he felt bad about was that he was pretty sure she knew it too. “So, see. Plenty of room for you to move right in.”

“Rye,” Peeta warned, glaring at him in frustration.

“Fine, fine. I’ll drop it.” Rye threw his hands up in surrender and smirked at his brother. “I’m going to head out. I think I’ve pressed my luck long enough. If you need anything you let me know. Don’t make me find out from your hunter girlfriend.” 

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Peeta said tersely. Rye chuckled, stood and stretched, grimacing when the vertebrae in his back popped. 

“Whatever. I love you, Peet.” Rye walked over to the bed and pressed a kiss to the top of his brother’s blond waves then ruffled them, making Peeta growl. 

“Hey,” Peeta waved off the hand on his head and looked up at Rye. “I love you too. I’ll come by after the first day of school.” Rye’s apartment was on the way from the school back to town.

“All right. Bye Peet.” He pressed a solid hand to Peeta’s broad shoulders and squeezed. It was then that he got a glimpse of what Peeta was drawing. It looked like a pair of eyes. It struck him as he turned to walk away just whose eyes they were. 

Katniss Everdeen’s. 

Rye smirked the whole way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An-UGH, this is super short, I know and I’m sorry. But my laptop went kerplooie with a good three pages worth of work from Prim’s pov. So, after I whimpered about that for a few days, I decided to do this scene between the two brothers’s and find someone to retrieve my files from the dead laptop. I haven’t done that yet. I’m also sorry about the wait, but I wrote for Fandom 4LLS and PIP. And I’m also writing on my ancient desktop, which thankfully still seems to like me. Anyway, enjoy and review. And keep your fingers crossed I get my damn files. Come find me on TUMBLR at Jypzrose ,


	8. Chapter 7-Those Everdeen Girls

Primrose Everdeen was once again sitting at the front counter of the Apothecary when a Mellark walked in _._ And, again, her eyes widened almost comically as she watched him advance through the store, his smile similar to Peeta’s with the exception of the butterflies that exploded in her stomach at the sight of it.  Peeta’s smile hadn’t made that happen. 

 

At least not to Prim.  Katniss was another story.

 

In theory, this Mellark shouldn’t have had this affect on her.  The pair shared similar height and build, although this one seemed _broader._   They both had similar blond hair and blue eyes.  There was even a similar gait to the way they walked.

 

But Rye Mellark was certainly doing something to Prim that Peeta had never done.  When those blue eyes with their strange flecks of brown in them met her own, Prim felt her heart do a long, slow somersault in her chest. 

 

“Hi, Primrose, right?”  His voice was deep and rich, like the chocolate ice cream Prim had sampled last Yule.  Katniss somehow managed to scrape together a couple of coins to purchase the single scoop.  She remembered how the sweet confection had exploded on her tongue and the delicious shiver that had skated up her spine.  His voice gave her the same shiver with a side bonus of goose bumps.

 

“Prim!” she practically shouted.  Her whole body seemed to jerk with the exclamation and she knocked the Capital magazine she’d been leafing through onto the floor.  “Oh, uhm,” she reached down to grab the magazine.  She felt the heat of her embarrassment crawl up her neck as she stood up and raised her gaze to his.  Rye was looking at her with his brows drawn in confusion but an amused smile on his lips.

 

“What was that?”

 

“Prim, you can call me Prim.  Everyone does.”  Prim nearly cringed with how squeaky she sounded.  She fought the urge to close her eyes in shame and forced herself to meet his stare.  The confusion had melted away and he seemed almost delighted as he looked down at her. 

 

_Great, he probably thinks you’re a cute kid,_ Prim thought with a large amount of disgust.  It would make sense of course.  He _was_ five years older than her.  He had graduated two years ago and Prim was just starting Upper School.  Even her sister and Peeta would be out of school after this year.  She was a kid compared to them.  A fact that suddenly made her feel very sad indeed.

 

“Well, Prim, I see that the Everdeen women are all a vision.”  He told her with a wink.  She would have flushed more if she didn’t know he was just teasing her.  But she did feel a slight rush of pleasure at his words.

 

“Thank you.”  Prim dropped her gaze to the counter.  She saw his strong hands braced against the counter top and felt a stab of nostalgia so keen she almost gasped.  Wide palmed, thick fingered and tinged black with coal, they reminded her so much of her father’s hands she felt the sting of tears in her throat.  She blinked several times and turned away under the guise of putting the magazine onto the counter behind her.

 

She didn’t think about Sebastian often, mainly because it had been so long and she had been so young.  But Prim still felt his loss as sharply as Katniss, even though her sister had obviously been their father’s daughter.  The grief of her mother dying hadn’t been as painful, maybe because they had those last few months to say goodbye.  Their father had been taken so fast, so violently, there was no chance but for it to leave a hole in all those left behind.

 

And the sight of coal on the hands of a baker made something deep in Prim ache.

 

“What can I do for you, Rye?  Is Peeta ok?”  She took a steadying breath and turned back to face him, noting the concern in his eyes.

 

“You know my name?”  Rye sounded pleased at that and it made Prim smile.  “Peeta’s doing well.  And that’s actually why I came by.  I wanted to settle up for him.  Is your aunt around?”

 

Prim frowned at that.  Mr. Mellark had already come in and paid for Aunt Juniper’s services and she told him as much.

 

“I know.  I want to set something up where I can pay if anything like this happens again.”  Now Prim saw the shame he was trying to cover behind those brown flecked eyes.  She could only guess why he felt that way.  It wasn’t like he’d broken Peeta’s arm.  But then she thought about how Katniss would feel if something like that had happened to her by their mother’s hand.  She would feel like she hadn’t protected Prim and that was something that was inconceivable to Katniss.

 

“Oh, of course.” She nodded and gave him a smile which he returned, although it didn’t reach his eyes.  “I’ll get Juni for you.”

 

“Thanks.” 

 

“You’re welcome,” As Prim walked away, she couldn’t resist casting one last look at him over her shoulder to bask in the warmth of the smile he gave her.

 

 

~*~*~

 

Katniss had no idea that her sister was now dealing with her own overwhelming feelings for a Mellark.  Prim hadn’t let on anything when they talked about Rye’s appearance at dinner.  Katniss hadn’t known what to think, but she guess that he thought it was the only way he could help Peeta at this point.  He’d moved out, leaving the youngest Mellark to deal with their mother on his own, since no protection was coming from their father. 

 

She could understand why Rye had to get away, she just couldn’t understand how he could leave Peeta like that.  Katniss would cut off her own arm before she allowed anything to happen to Prim.  And it was that fact, not so much the age difference-though that was surely bad enough- that would have had Katniss concerned about where Prim’s affections had focused.

 

Katniss had been immersed in her own feelings, her anger at Peeta’s situation making her feel useless.  She’d gone to the bakery every morning to buy a pastry or a loaf of bread, hoping to get a glimpse of him to make sure he was all right.  But she’d only encountered the sour faced cause of his problems, his mother. 

 

Only once she saw his father and his usually warm smile had faltered under the weight of her scowl.  He’d filled her order quickly and told her that he’d let Peeta know she’d asked about him.  Then he disappeared into the kitchen without looking back, leaving Katniss frustrated.  She only had Rye’s word that Peeta was ok.  Other than storming into the back and demanding to see him, which she had no right to do.

 

 She was still hunting, but really, she only had to go out a few times a week now.  And at that, she was really only hunting for her family, since she now made a wage working in the Apothecary.  She thought about asking Gale if he’d seen Peeta, but after their encounter in the woods that day, she didn’t think it was a good idea.

 

At least, her distraction with Peeta was making it easier to adjust to their move. Almost two weeks had past since they’d buried her mother, and while the pain was still there, it wasn’t knife sharp.  Even Prim seemed to be adjusting, flourishing even, in their new environment. 

 

There had been an influx of customers the first week, as if the Merchants wanted to see if the Seam children still carried the layers of coal dust that coated the entirety of the District.  Instead they found clean, well fed, pleasant (Prim) children that did nothing to feed the gossip lines.  By the end of their second week, only the customers that actually needed something from the apothecary came in.

 

She met Gale in the woods to hunt once or twice, but she was still plenty mad at him.  He’d made no move to apologize and she certainly wasn’t at fault, so she took to going when she knew he wouldn’t be there.  It might have been petty and she really did miss her friend.  But until he started to understand that life wasn’t perfect for _everyone_ in Twelve, Katniss just couldn’t deal with him right now.

 

It wasn’t until the second Friday after Peeta’s ‘accident’ that she finally saw him again.  She’d taken the trash out before dinner and had just dropped the bag in the bins when she heard a steady _thwap, thwap, thwap_.    Curious, she walked to the fence dividing the bakery backyard from the apothecary’s and saw Peeta sitting under the same apple tree Katniss herself had been under all those years ago.

 

The blond of his hair glinted in the moonlight, his hand deftly catching the ball he was currently tossing aginst the side of their shed.  Her heart started to skip in her chest and she felt a little light headed.  Shaking it off, she called out to him, her voice quiet.

 

“Hey.” 

 

Peeta’s eyes shot to hers, narrowed to slits until he recognized her.  He gave her a quick smile then went back to throwing his ball.  “Hey.”

 

“How’s your arm doing?”

 

“Great.”  There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his voice.

 

_Well, ok then_.  Her temper flared at his indifference to her but she forced it back.  She could only imagine how embarrassed he felt, so she tried to remember that.  She floundered for something else to say, cursing herself for not having the appropriate social skills necessary.  Prim would have engaged him, ignored his mood and had him smiling inside of a minute.  Katniss just didn’t have those skills.

 

“So, are you ready for school to start?”  The ball stopped when he caught it deftly and he finally raised those clear blue eyes of his to hers.  She felt her heart stutter in her chest and warmth flooded her cheeks.  It took her a second to realize that he was saying something to her and that the look in his eyes was less than welcoming.  “I’m sorry, what?”

 

“I said,” Peeta started again with a scowl that could rival hers on his face.  “Why did you tell my brother about this?”  He raised his arm and glared hotly at her.

           

“It wasn’t something I thought about,” she started, her own temper breaking from the restraint she put on it.  “I saw him and told him.  Figured he’d like to know what he left you behind to deal with.”

           

“Don’t you judge him.”  Peeta said, his voice low and dangerous.  “You don’t know _anything_ about what goes on in my house.  Don’t think a couple of weeks in town gives you the right to make assumptions.”

 

Despite the anger still flaring, she felt a stab of shame that she’d upset him so much.  “I would die before I let anything happen to Prim.” She insisted, meeting his eyes in challenge.

 

“I know.”  Those two words reminded her that he knew the lengths she’d go to protect her sister.  “Rye would do the same for me.  He’s had more than one broken bone in his life, more than one bruise or bloody lip, Katniss.  All to keep her off of me.  But in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly a child anymore.  And he didn’t leave until he was sure I could take care of myself.  She caught me off guard.  That’s all.”

 

Katniss’s anger swiftly drained out of her and she felt even more shamed than she had a moment ago.  Who _was_ she to judge?  Both Mellark boys were stocky and strong, both purely capable of taking care of themselves.  In fact, Rye only barely beat Peeta in that wrestling championship his last year of school. 

 

“I’m sorry for making assumptions about your life.  But I’m not going to apologize about telling him.  If it were Prim, I would want someone to tell me.”  She raised her chin then, a dark brow arched to challenge him to object.

 

“All right, fair enough.  Rye said basically the same thing.”  Peeta glanced down at the ball he was turning in his hand, his next words so quiet she almost didn’t catch them.  “He asked me to go when he moved.  I told him no.”

 

She wanted to ask why, but she already knew the answer.  So, she just shook her head instead.  Peeta kept his eyes on her, the startling blue making her feel edgy and she crossed her arms over her chest in a protective manner.

 

“So, Katniss.  How do you like being in town?” Peeta asked after a few seconds of silence.  He stood up and leaned against the tree, his eyes trained steadily on her face.  Katniss shrugged in response, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

 

“It’s all right.”

 

“Expected to be run out already?”  Peeta asked with an arched brow, his lips pursed in amusement.

 

“Yeah. You could say that.”

 

“I’m sure there are some assholes out there that will have something to say.  But since the war,” he waved his good hand in a dismissive way.  “Social divide isn’t as big of a thing.”

 

Katniss supposed he was right, but there were those that still looked at her as if she were an oddity.  She didn’t care what people thought of her for the most part, but she was always worried about Prim.  Of course, Prim seemed to be adjusting just fine.

 

“Uhm, I was wondering,” Katniss started, her nerves crawling like ants under her skin.  She wouldn’t, _couldn’t_ admit to her feelings for him.  But maybe she could just…”If you wanted to be friends.”  She said in a rush, her grey eyes darting to his and away.  She felt her flush deepen and she gnawed on her bottom lip as Peeta considered her.

 

“You want to be my friend, Katniss?”  He asked, pushing away from the tree.  There was something about his voice, low and dark that sent a rush of warmth go through her.  She nodded quickly, not trusting her voice.  He grinned, the look wolfish and charming at the same time, his blue eyes traveling over her face in a heated glance.  In that moment, Katniss knew that the rumors, the whispers and gossip told behind hands with giggles and smirks was true.  She had never listened to them, to annoyed and embarrassed to consider what was said as anything more than wishful thinking on the speaker’s part.  Then her mind conjured up all the girls that talked, all the boys that looked at Peeta like some kind of legend and even the muttered warnings from Gale. 

 

Peeta frequented the slag heap.  A lot.

 

Her heart sped up as the knowledge spread through her, the truth of it making her sick and thrilled with a healthy dose of fear in the mix.  She was so sheltered, so sequestered from that side of life she felt panicky and light headed, her breath coming in shallow spurts as images before unknown and unwanted flooded her brain.

 

He walked toward her-no, that term was too subtle, too normal a word to describe his movements toward her.  No, Peeta was _stalking_ her.  Suddenly, she felt a strange kinship with the animals she hunted.

 

When he stopped at the fence separating them, he folded his arms across the top.  She saw an array of pictures covering the surface of his cast, all too beautiful to be gracing the hard, plaster shell.

 

His eyes bore into hers, pinning her into place when her brain was screaming at her to flee.  He rubbed his lip over the thumb he’d raised and Katniss found herself unable to tear her gaze away from the action.  She felt a rush of wetness soak her panties when his tongue darted out to swipe along the lip he’d just rubbed.  Her head was spinning and she felt the urge to step forward and chase his tongue with her own.

 

“ _Just_ friends?”  His innuendo was clear, even for someone not readily versed in such things.  Something about it snapped her back, cooling the heat that had suffused her body when he started towards her.

 

“Yes.  Just friends.”  Katniss said, taking a full step back from the fence.  Surprise widened his eyes, then disbelief narrowed them as he looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.  She was starting to think that Peeta didn’t have enough friends.  Or maybe none at all.

 

Katniss found that sad.  Despite her own social awkwardness, she still had Madge and Gale.  She decided in the silence that stretched between them that no matter her feelings towards Peeta, she would do her best to be his friend. 

 

“Why?”  His question caught her off guard and she bristled at the suspicion she saw in his eyes.

 

“Because you helped me once.  And now I’d like to help you.”  Katniss expected him to close off, back up and tell her to take her _help_ and get lost.  It’s what she would have done.  Instead, he just stared at her, as if she were a puzzle to solve.

 

“Ok.” He finally said, surprising her.

 

“Ok?” she asked with a smile pulling the edges of her mouth up.

 

“Yeah.”  He confirmed with a nod and an answering smile of his own.

 

“Well, ok then.”  Katniss felt foolish for how wide her smile had become.

 

“Katniss? Suppers ready.”  Juni’s voice floated down from their apartment, breaking the spell that had weaved around the pair.

 

“I’m coming!”  She called back.  Katniss looked over to Peeta and gave him a shaky smile.  She couldn’t deny the powerful attraction she felt for him.  It would be easy to succumb to it, but Katniss didn’t want that.  Or, more to the point, she didn’t want to be another notch on his belt.  “Goodnight, Peeta.”

 

“Goodnight, Katniss.”  He said, pushing away from the fence and tossing her a wave before he went inside as well.  Katniss walked up the back stairs of the Apothecary, thinking about everything that had just happened.  She felt her crush on him changing, as she realized how naïve it had been. 

 

He was so messed up, so vulnerable.  She felt an ache for him now, one that she knew had to do with both her physical reaction to him and her emotional one.  Her heart wanted to gather him close, to protect him the way she always tried to protect those she cared about.  Her mind wanted him to offer her all he could give her so she could do the same for him.

 

When Katniss reached the top landing, she paused and turned to look at the apartment adjacent to theirs.  She saw a light go on in the window directly across from where her bedroom was and she wondered if that was Peeta’s.  Almost as if he heard her thoughts, the curtains opened and the sash came up, revealing the blonde.  He didn’t look out, just went about his room and Katniss smiled.  She looked forward to becoming friends with him.  She hoped that he felt the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope this was a satisfying update. I promise not to make you guys wait so long again. Yes, Prim has a crush on Rye. Yes, that is going to be yet another plot line in this fic. Nothing untoward will happen while she is underage. This is just a warning. Review, Review, Review. Peace, Lisa.


	9. The Re-Education of Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark

**Chapter Eight**

 

 

It didn’t really take long for Gale to come to a strange realization.  He _liked_ Madge Undersee.  A Merchant girl.  The Mayor’s d _aughter._   All that he felt was wrong with their world began and ended with the futility of her father.  And he _liked_ her.

 

The fuck??

 

And to add even more to his confusion (and complete irritation if he were honest with himself) he realized that he also liked…Rye Mellark.  Not for the same reasons of course, because despite everything he found Madge…pretty.  Beautiful even.  When she smiled.  When she cocked her head when she was listening. He even noticed, on their walks, which were becoming rather routine and very frequent, the way the sun would glint off her hair just so.

 

He certainly didn’t notice those things about Rye Mellark.  But what he did notice about the middle baker’s son, was the ability to work hard, to joke and laugh with people that had looked at him like a rare animal his first day of work.  To go toe to toe with the ones that still did.  The way he loved his brother.  Because you only had to mention Peeta’s name to see the way pride lit up Rye’s face.  Gale, having also seen that particular look on Katniss’ face (not to mention feeling it himself when it came to his siblings) noticed the difference. The guilt that seemed roughen the edges of that pride. 

 

Gale thought he might understand it, since everybody knew what happened in the bakery.  Rye got out, leaving Peeta behind.  But from what Gale saw, Peeta was a big boy and could take care of himself. He just needed to learn to duck.  And as an older sibling, he could understand Rye’s need/want to protect him.  It wasn’t an enviable position to be in, from what Gale could see.  It made him see that maybe, just maybe, Katniss had been right.  That being a merchant didn’t mean an easy life and it certainly wasn’t free from problems.

 

And that was how two merchants, and not the rebellion (or even Katniss) made Gale realize he was an ass.

 

When he and Madge walked, they talked. She would ask about his sister and brothers, his mother.  He would do the same, her mother anyway, and she would hedge and shrug and say her mother suffered from headaches.  The way she said it made him think that maybe there was something else her mother suffered from, but she wasn’t going to tell him.  Which was fine. Because what did he care?

 

But he did and that was what was annoying him.

 

“Gale, is that you?”  Hazelle’s voice rang out from the back of their tiny house as Gale walked in.  He had removed his boots outside and did his best to shake off as much coal dust as possible before entering the house.  It took almost a year after they’d moved here to stop feeling like a stranger in his own home.  They had running water and electricity. His mother even had her own washing machine.  The seam homes he had grown up in were slowly being upgraded or torn down.  Katniss’s old house was currently being renovated by the couple that had bought it.  He wondered what his friend would think if she saw it now.

 

“Yeah ma.”  Gale called back.   Hazelle walked out of their small kitchen drying her hands.  From the smell coming from the room, he guessed she was starting dinner.  He’d pulled day shift this week so he got home in time to actually eat dinner with his family, instead of being asleep or deep in the mines while they ate.

 

“So I heard something in town today.”  Never one to beat around the bush, Hazelle pinned him with eyes that were more on the blue side than the clear grey her late husband had passed to his oldest son.

 

“I bet you did.”  Gale answered, alluding the ever rampant gossip mill that served as entertainment for most of the district.  His mother had been a launderer before the war.  Once the modern conveniences moved into even the poorer homes in Twelve, she had to find a different line of work.  She’d started to clean the homes of the richer families that moved into the abandoned houses of the Victor’s Village.  Except for Haymitch Abernathy’s house.  That one stayed empty either in respect for the late Victor or because no one wanted to brave the condemned property.

 

There was also some speculation of a ghost.  But Gale didn’t believe in such things.  No matter what the reasons, Abernathy’s house remained empty although someone would go mow the grass every so often.

 

Basically her change of employment meant she spent more time in town since she had more money to actually go to the merchant quarter.  So who knew what had reached her ears that day.

 

“Don’t be smart.”  Hazelle reprimanded without any real heat.  She leaned against the door frame and smirked at him.

 

“Can it wait until I take a shower?”

 

“Oh sure, sure.  We’re having a guest for dinner.”  She added, almost as an afterthought.

 

“Who?”  Gale called, moving towards the stairs.  Almost as if on cue, there was a knock on the door.  He paused as his mother went to answer.  He nearly tripped over the steps when he saw the familiar blonde step inside.

 

“Hello Madge.  Please come in.”  And suddenly, as the smirk on his mother’s face widened and his equally wide eyes met Madge’s he knew what his mother had heard in town that day. 

 

“Shit.”  He muttered to himself.  He left the confused looking Madge with his smirking mother so he could go take a shower.  He vaguely wondered if he could drown himself in the stall.

***

 

Peeta chewed nervously on his bottom lip as he walked up the steps leading to the apartment above the apothecary.  The fact that he was nervous was enough to make him want to go back home.  When Katniss had stumbled through her invitation for dinner that morning when she came in to buy their bread, Peeta had been too amused to say no.

 

Now, for some reason, he felt the pitch and role of his stomach that he hadn’t felt since the first time he’d talked a girl out of her panties.  Of course, the payoff for that had been bliss, no matter how short lived.  This, he didn’t know how to do this. To be with a girl without ulterior motives. Unless that girl was Delly Cartwright who’d only ever been like a sister to him.  And now that she was engaged to Thom, well, he liked his legs unbroken thank you very much.

 

Since Katniss had made her declaration of friendship a few days prior, he didn’t really know what to expect.  He saw her again the next night when he needed to get away from his mother for a few minutes.  Peeta quickly realized that Katniss wasn’t much of a talker, which he already knew from seeing her in school.  But he hadn’t had any real experience himself.  But she gamely stumbled through a few of questions, which he’d made about hunting since that seemed to be a conversation she was comfortable with.  She’d ask him a few things about baking and then they’d parted ways. 

 

The next night, Prim had come out with her.  The girl, who he figured must be about fourteen or fifteen, chattered nonstop.  He knew about her favorite color, how much she enjoyed working in the apothecary, how her best friend Rory was getting a part time job delivering medicine for them to the older clients that couldn’t get into town as much.  Katniss had only spoken up a few times, her face showing an affectionate indulgence when she looked at Prim.  He’d only ever seen one other place.

 

His brother Rye. 

 

It gave Peeta a pleasant feeling to know that when it came to Prim, Katniss was just like his brother.  He also noticed that the smile she wore made her whole face light up, making her look very pretty.  Then he reminded himself that neither one of them wanted that type of relationship-really, Peeta wasn’t equipped to handle one with her-and he concentrated on Prim.

 

It was when the questions about Rye started that Peeta was really amused.  Especially the way Prim tried to ask them in such a way that it wouldn’t be obvious _why_ she was asking them.  Peeta answered them then winked at the girl when Katniss wasn’t looking, which sent a blush of crimson crawling up the younger woman’s neck. 

 

Realizing she was found out, she squeaked out a goodbye then rushed inside.  Katniss watched the girl go with a puzzled scowl and looked back at Peeta who just shrugged.  He wouldn’t rat the girl out.  But it didn’t mean he wouldn’t tease her unmercifully later on.

 

It was just that morning that his mother had finally let him out of the back to work the front.  He didn’t know what she was worried about.  The whole town already knew thanks to the gossips that saw him walking to the apothecary after she’d attacked him.  And nobody had done anything about it before.  He was useless in the back anyway, only able to decorate.  He couldn’t help with the baking other than to take pans out of the oven.

 

When Katniss had walked in her face lit up in a smile before she could stop it and Peeta had to ignore the sudden urge to kiss that smile. 

 

_Friends, Mellark.  Friends._

He had to admit, when she first suggested the idea of friends, he’d been wary.  More than.  Girls didn’t really want to be friends with him.  They either looked at him with a large level of disgust or challenge, depending what they wanted from him.  The ones that were disgusted with him also more often than not, wanted him.  That wasn’t cockiness, though there was a certain amount of that he felt.  After all, for all their judging him, they didn’t have a problem fucking him.

 

Then there were the ones that thought they could change him.  The few times he been with a girl like that he’d felt like shit afterwards.  He didn’t like to hurt people.  He just wanted to forget for a little while.  That’s why it was easier to stick with the girls that hated him while he fucked them.  At least there was no chance of them wanting more from him.

 

But not one of those girls wanted to be his friend.  So he was trying like hell to curb his first instinct to try to bed Katniss.  Because the thought of having a friend was much more appealing than just another girl to screw.

 

So, Peeta took a deep breath and smiled when Katniss opened the door, completely ignoring the way her return smile made his nerves jump once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh, transitional chapters are fun, huh? I’m so sorry this took so long to get out and it wasn’t even that…good. Anyway, just wanted to show where our boys are at right now, mentally. We’ll get back to some actual goings on in the next one. Anyhow, please read and review. Next up is the Games we Lost. If you’re interested in Rye/Prim pairing, please go check that one out. There is a big surprise coming up in the second half of the story, but it’s still a few chapters away. I really love that story. Also, come see me on Tumblr, jypzrose. I don’t bite and I love making new friends and will happily answer questions. Thanks ever so. Lisa/Jypz

**Author's Note:**

> A/n-hrm. Another story. Well, this is basically a tease of the story that I’m going to be writing after Promise to Keep. This little bit has been bouncing around in my head for a couple of weeks so I decided to write it down and see if the interest is there. So, this is kind of a downer, but it will get better. Katniss will know how she feels about Peeta, Peeta will still be charming but underneath angry. There will be Gadge. They will get together quicker than Peeta and Katniss. But they will not have a smooth path either. Anyway. Hope you enjoy. Review, review, review. :D Jypz/Lisa
> 
> A/n 2-I kept the nature of Mrs. Everdeen’s illness ambiguous for a reason. It speaks cancer to me, because I lost both my parent’s to cancer. However, I want the reader to make their own assumptions. It could be black lung, cancer, tuberculosis or whatever. And I didn’t want to her to commit suicide.


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